The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has revealed that in June 2023, the value of merchandise imports increased from US$867.89 million (Shs3.224Trn) in May 2023 to US$898million (Shs3.336Trn) in June 2023.
The details are contained in the Monthly Performance of Economy Report 2023 for July 2023, with Government attributing the growth to largely higher private sector imports particularly animals and animal products, petroleum products, vegetable products, beverages, fats & oils, as well as textiles and textile products.
“This increase was mainly driven by increased import volumes for mineral products (excluding petroleum products), vegetable products, animals, beverages, and fats & oils,” read in part the report.
The report further revealed that in June 2023, Asia remained Uganda’s largest source of imports, accounting for 36.9% of the total imports with China and India emerging as the major contributors of nations where Uganda imported its goods, accounting for 74.4% of the imports from the region.
Other notable regions included the EAC, the Middle East, and the Rest of Africa, which accounted for 26.9%, 15.3%, and 10.5% of the total imports respectively, but in the EAC region, Tanzania and Kenya emerged as the lead sources of Uganda’s merchandise imports, accounting for 62.5% and 33.5% of the total imports, respectively.
The report also revealed that in June 2023, Uganda exported merchandise worth US$650.57 million (Shs2.417Trn), representing an 11.1% increase when compared to USD 585.81 million (Shs2.176Trn) exported during May 2023, with Government attributing the higher export earnings from beans, simsim, cotton and gold registered during the month.
The report further noted that Coffee export receipts during the month amounted to US$90.56 million (Shs336.493Bn), a 23.6% increase from US&73.26 million (Shs272.211Bn) in May 2023, with the Ministry of Finance attributing this to the rise in international price of Robusta coffee which prompted exporters to off-load coffee from their warehouses for sale.
In comparison to the same month the previous year, merchandise exports grew by 78.2% from USD 365.13 million in June 2022 to USD 650.57 million in June 2023. This was largely attributed to increased export earnings from maize, simsim, gold and hides and skins.
In June 2023, the EAC remained the top destination of Uganda’s exports, accounting for 33.9% of the total market share and the top three destinations for Uganda’s exports were Kenya, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo, taking up 31.4%, 25.7%, and 24.7% of the total exports respectively. Asia and the Middle East emerged as the second and third top destinations for Uganda’s exports, accounting for 32.8% and 13.8% respectively.
It is worth noting that Uganda’s export earnings from Asia significantly increased from USD 28.12million in June 2022 to USD 213.53 million in June 2023, owing to the increase in gold exports to the region.
