The Ministry of Finance has revealed that in April 2025, Uganda exported goods worth 3.999Trn with higher earnings in coffee, gold, cocoa beans cited as the key drivers of Uganda’s exports.
The details are contained in the latest Performance of the Economy Monthly Report for May 2025 that was released yesterday on the Ministry’s website and social media platforms.
“On a monthly basis, export earnings in April 2025 amounted to US$1,110.05 Million (Shs3.999Trn) a 23.5% increase from US$899.10 Million (Shs3.237Trn) recorded in March 2025.This growth was primarily driven by higher earnings from coffee, gold, cocoa beans, base metals & products, electricity, sugar and vanilla, among others. Similarly, exports excluding coffee and gold increased by 37.2% from US$315.39 million to US$432.81 million, signaling a rise in majority of our exports in April 2025,” read in part the report.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in April 2025, the Middle East remained Uganda’s largest export destination, accounting for 35.7% of Uganda’s exports. At a country-specific level within the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates dominated, receiving 98.5% of Uganda’s exports to the region.
Uganda’s market for its products was also boosted by its neighbours in the East African Community (EAC) that emerged as the second largest destination, accounting for 24.4% of total exports, followed by the European Union (18.5%) and Asia (16.0%).
“Within the EAC, the Democratic Republic of Congo maintained its position as the largest importer of Uganda’s merchandise, taking up 30.8% of the total exports. This was followed by Kenya at 23.3% and South Sudan at 21.2%,” as highlighted in the report.
Despite the growth in exports, Uganda is still struggling with controlling its trade deficit with the Ministry of Finance indicating that Uganda’s import bill increased by 11.2% on a monthly basis, from US$1,112.72 Million (Shs4.006Trn) in March 2025 to US$1,236.90 Million (Shs4.454Trn) in April 2025.
The Ministry’s report attributed the growth of imports noting, “This increase was mainly driven by the rise in non-oil formal private sector imports, particularly vegetable products, animal, beverage, fats & oils, mineral products, base metals & their products, as well as animal & animal products.”
On the destination for Uganda’s imports, the Ministry revealed that in April 2025, the East African Community (EAC) emerged as the largest source of imports, contributing 32.1% of the total import bill and within the regional bloc, Tanzania and Kenya were the dominant sources of our imports from the region, accounting for 63.8% and 33.1% of this import bill, respectively.
The other notable sources of Uganda’s imports were Asia, the Rest of Africa and the Middle East, which contributed 32.0%, 22.8% and 7.4% of total imports, respectively. Within Asia, China and India were the primary sources of Uganda’s imports, accounting for 43.4% and 31.1% of the imports from the region, respectively.
