President Emmerson Mnangagwa has disputed statistics on Zimbabwe's economy which place it between US$26 billion and US$27 billion, arguing the country's 'disorderly and illegal' informal sector is adding a lot of value.

Mnangagwa utterances were carried in an opinion piece, Re-imagining the Zimbabwean Economy, published by UK-based regional paper The Southern African Times this week.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in crisis since the early 2000s as a result of poor administration and corruption among other reasons.

The informal sector referred to by Mnangagwa is a calabash of economic activities, most of which have not been legalised such as vending and gold panning.

"I am far from being convinced that the current size of our economy, which is put at between US$26 billion and US$27 billion, does justice to our real worth," wrote Mnangagwa.

"My hunch is that a lot of value remains uncaptured and thus unstated or understated. For instance, how is the informal sector accounted for in this global value?

"Anything less will suggest that the country is not being built by those previously disadvantaged by colonisation but by a privileged few in the formal economy. We need a new template for a new, ever-transforming economy!"

Past efforts to resuscitate the country's economy have failed, with most Zimbabweans struggling to make ends meet. The country's population is largely unemployed.