The United Arab Emirates is Uganda’s top source of export earnings
UAE makes up 97.46% of Uganda’s exports to the Middle East, with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan sharing the rest.
Uganda’s exports to Kenya have decreased by a yearly rate of 8.53% over the past five years.
Following closely behind UAE as Uganda’s top export market was India with exports worth $951.8 million and a market share of 12.9%. Kenya came in third position with exports worth $626.7 million and a market share of 8.51% while South Sudan came next with exports value of $534.5 million and 7.25% market share.
The BoU report further indicates that of the $2.09 billion worth of exports to the Middle East, UAE was responsible for at least 97.46%, with the rest – 2.54% – shared among Israel ($19.03m), Saudi Arabia ($7.26m) and Jordan ($2.44m), among others.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) notes that as at 2022, Uganda’s top exports were Gold ($1.92B), Coffee ($753M), Fish ($69.5M), Raw Sugar ($61.7M), and Cocoa Beans ($60M), and the major export destinations were United Arab Emirates ($1.22B), India ($464M), Hong Kong ($350M), Kenya ($312M), and Italy ($265M).
For years, Kenya and Tanzania have been Uganda’s main trading partners.
The OEC data shows as at 2022, that the total value of Ugandan exports to Kenya stood at $312Million. The top product that was exported from Uganda to Kenya was Milk worth $44.6 Million, Concentrated milk ($39.9 million) and electricity ($30.8million).
The data further showed that over the past five years, Ugandan exports to Kenya have reduced by a yearly rate of 8.53% from $488 million recorded in 2017, to $312 million in 2022.
However, Uganda’s exports to the UAE have increased at an annual rate of 5.29% from June 2011 to $2.03b. UAE has during the period, gradually relegated Kenya, DR Congo, and Rwanda, to become Uganda’s largest source of export earnings, contributing 25.66% of total export earnings.