The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has revealed that Uganda imported goods worth USD 867.89 million (Shs3.160Trn) in May 2023, which is an increase from USD 644.42 million (Shs2.346Trn) in May 2022.
“This was mainly attributed to the increased import volumes for the non-oil private sector imports. These include chemicals & related products, plastic, rubber & related products, base metals & their products, machinery Equipment, vehicles & Accessories and wood & wood products,” read in part the June 2023 Performance of Economy report from the Ministry of Finance.
The report further detailed destinations of Uganda imports where Asia as previous years remained the largest source of Uganda’s imports in May 2023, accounting for 36.8 percent of the total merchandise imported, with China and India accounting for 50.1 percent and 22.8 percent respectively of the total imports from Asia.
This was followed by the EAC and the middle East which accounted for 28.4 percent and 14.7 percent respectively. In the EAC region, Tanzania (58.9 percent) and Kenya (35.7 percent) took the lead.
The report also revealed that the value of merchandise exported increased to USD 585.81 million (Shs2.133Trn) in May 2023, up from USD 351.23 million (Shs1.278Trn) in May 2022 and this is compared to USD 538.87 million (Shs1.962Trn) registered in April 2023.
The Ministry attributed the growth to the higher receipts for coffee which was made possible by a reduction in supply of coffee from major countries such as Brazil and Vietnam on the international market. Other export items whose receipts increased during the month include sugar, beans, cement, tobacco, cotton and tea among others.
On destination for Uganda’s products, the East African Community (EAC) accounted for the largest share of Uganda’s exports (40.9 percent) during the month of May 2023, with Kenya, DRC and South Sudan emerged as the top destinations for Uganda’s exports to EAC taking up to 38.1 percent, 24.9 percent and 22.2 percent respectively of the total share to the EAC.
Ugandan exporters also enjoyed markets in the Middle East and Asia with 22.0 percent and 19.6 percent respectively of Uganda’s exports.
