Uganda, in its last fiscal year, experienced a significant spike in its merchandise products sold, compared to the financial year prior.
- Uganda experienced a 72% increase in merchandise export revenue, rising from $844.60 million in January 2025 to $1,453.53 million in January 2026.
- The merchandise trade surplus in January 2026 was USD 147.26 million, mainly due to exports of gold and coffee.
- Gold was the standout commodity, with export earnings soaring by 182.2% year-on-year to $913.95 million in January 2026.
- In 2025, gold exports reached $6.4 billion, becoming Uganda’s largest export commodity and surpassing coffee and cocoa by a wide margin.
The East African country, per a report by its finance ministry, recently revealed that it experienced a 72% upsurge in its merchandise sales.
The report showed that Uganda’s merchandise export revenue went from $844.60 million in January 2025 to $1,453.53 million in January 2026.
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A post from X, by the Government Citizen Interaction Centre, also showed that Uganda’s merchandise exports grew to $1.45 billion (about UGX 5.43 trillion) in January 2026, up from $1.395 billion (around UGX 5.22 trillion) in December 2025.
The report further noted that this growth was primarily driven by the export of gold and coffee as well as industrial products, electricity, beans, and oil re-exports, among other commodities.
“In January 2026, Uganda recorded a merchandise trade surplus of USD 147.26 million.
The improvement was largely driven by strong export performance, particularly from gold and coffee, which together generated USD 1,074.95 million in export earnings during the month,” the report states.
“Export earnings from gold recorded the most significant growth, increasing by 182.2 percent over the period, from USD 323.84 million in January 2025 to USD 913.95 million in January 2026,” it adds.
Reports in February showed that the country’s gold exports had surged from $1.26 billion in 2019 to $6.4 billion in 2025, marking a more than fivefold increase in just six years and making gold the country’s largest export commodity.
However, per the data, Uganda’s net gain from the trade is only about $200 million.
Gold generates approximately $6.4 billion annually for the East African country, compared with $2.4 billion from coffee and about $700 million from cocoa.
Uganda’s gold exports surged by 75.8% last year to about $5.8 billion, underscoring a rapid shift in the country’s export profile as bullion overtook coffee as the leading source of foreign exchange.
According to data from the Bank of Uganda, shipments increased from around $3.3 billion in 2024, owing primarily to record international prices that enticed new traders into the sector.
As seen on Sputnik, Uganda has benefited from a wave of central banks raising their gold reserves in an effort to diversify from traditional reserve currencies.
