Uganda exported commodities worth Shs2.5 trillion in August – Finance
What you need to know:
- The report shows that coffee export receipts during August 2023 amounted to $ 121.64 million (Shs457 billion). This is the highest ever amount received from coffee exports in a single month. This represents a 15.9 per cent increase compared to the $104.99 million (Shs395 billion) receipts for July.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Uganda exported merchandise worth $669.88 million (about Shs2.5 trillion) during August 2023, which represented a 17.6 per cent increase from $569.78 million (Shs2.14 trillion) in July 2023.
The Ministry of Finance said in its performance of economy report for the month of September released on October 17 that this was mainly on account of increased export earnings mainly from gold and coffee during that period.
The report shows that coffee export receipts during August 2023 amounted to $ 121.64 million (Shs457 billion). This is the highest ever amount received from coffee exports in a single month. This represents a 15.9 per cent increase compared to the $104.99 million (Shs395 billion) receipts for July.
“This increase was partly on account of the good crop harvest in the South-Western region and good prices on the global market which prompted exporters to release their stock,” the Ministry of Finance said.
Compared to the same month last year, export receipts grew by 31.9 % from $507.97 million (Shs1.9 trillion) in August 2022 to $669.88 million (about Shs2.5 trillion) in August 2023, mainly driven by increased earnings from gold, coffee, maize, oil re-exports among others in August 2023.
Destination of Exports
The biggest share of Uganda’s exports during the month of August 2023 went to the EAC partner states. The EAC accounted for 34.7 % of the exports, followed by the Middle East with 22.6%, Asia with 20.3% and the European Union with 12.5% of the total exports.
On a country-specific level, the United Arab Emirates remained Uganda’s largest destination of exports during the month accounting for 21.9% of the total value of merchandise exported.
Other notable countries were India, South Sudan and Kenya with 14.9%, 7.7% and 6.7% respectively of the total value of goods exported during the month.
However, during August 2023, Uganda imported goods worth $1.071 billion representing a 25.7% increase from the $853.06 million that was imported in July 2023. This increase was mainly in the form of formal private-sector imports during the month.
