Middle East accounts for 37% of Uganda’s exports, new report shows
The Ministry of Finance Performance of the Economy Report for April 2026 states that, at a country-specific level, the United Arab Emirates absorbed the largest share, taking up 99.5% of Uganda’s exports to the region.
The Ministry of Finance Performance of the Economy Report for April 2026 states that, at a country-specific level, the United Arab Emirates absorbed the largest share, taking up 99.5% of Uganda’s exports. (File photo)
_________________
The Middle East remained Uganda’s largest export destination in March 2026, accounting for 37.2% of the total market share, a new report shows.
The Ministry of Finance Performance of the Economy Report for April 2026 states that, at a country-specific level, the United Arab Emirates absorbed the largest share, taking up 99.5% of Uganda’s exports to the region.
Other notable trading blocs were Asia and the East African Community (EAC), which accounted for 25.3% and 21.8% respectively of Uganda’s total exports during the month.
Uganda’s export earnings increased to $1.446 billion (about sh5.46 trillion) in March 2026 from $992.98 (about sh3.75 trillion) million in March 2025, mainly driven by higher receipts from gold, oil re-exports, electricity and tobacco, among others.
Gold export earnings more than doubled, increasing by 121.1% from $385.08 million to $851.35 million over the same period, largely due to higher global gold prices.
“There has been upward pressure on global gold prices as gold is perceived a safe haven in an increasingly uncertain global environment that has seen Central Banks diversify their reserve assets,” the report indicates.
In contrast, coffee export earnings declined to $173.36 million in March 2026 from $198.94 million in March 2025.
This decline was driven entirely by lower prices, with the average unit price of coffee falling to $4.31 per kilogram in March 2026 from $5.16 per kilogram in March 2025.
However, volumes of coffee exported increased by 4.4% to 671,152 sixty-kilogramme bags from 642,981 sixty-kilogramme bags, on account of improved production.
The increase in volumes was not sufficient to offset the decline in prices, leading to lower coffee export receipts during the period under review.
Compared to February 2026, export earnings increased by 5.8% to $1,446.12 million in March 2026 from $1,367.42 million.
The main drivers of this increase were gold, cotton, tea, electricity, sugar and oil re-exports, among others.