OBJECTIVES: To evaluate generic medicine price variation among private retail pharmacies, public hospital pharmacies and dispensing doctors in institutions in different provinces in Zimbabwe. To compare prices of drugs on the Essential drugs list of Zimbabwe (EDLIZ) and those not on the list and prices of imported versus locally produced medicines. METHODS: Using a standardized WHO and Health Action International (HAI) methodology and data collection form, we collected medicine price data for 58 institutions (comprising 27 community pharmacies, eight public pharmacies and 23 dispensing doctors) on 37 carefully selected and commonly used generic medicines. At each institution, we identified and recorded the price of the least price generic medicine. The study was done in five of the ten provinces in the country. We used a computerised WHO/HAI International Medicine Price Workbook for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 37 generic medications, 18 and 22 were significantly expensive in dispensing doctors than in community pharmacies and public hospital pharmacies respectively (p<0.05). Price of generic medications were not significantly different across provinces (p>0.05). EDLIZ drugs had higher overall mean prices than non-EDLIZ drugs (t=2.274, df=35; p=0.029). This was true in all the three sectors surveyed. There was no significant difference in overall mean drug prices between locally produced medicines and imported medicines (t=-1.313; df=34; p=0.197). Medications with high prices in the private sector also had high prices in the public sector (r= 0.98, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Zimbabwean generic medications' prices are high and vary widely across sectors and by status of the drug (EDLIZ vs. non-EDLIZ drugs). This may have differential impacts on affordability and clinical outcomes.