- The fish and fish products sector declined
- Rice export revenues rose by 32.0%
Image: Courtesy
The new Macroeconomic digest Report by Uganda development bank has indicated that Uganda's trade balance deteriorated significantly, with the deficit widening by over 167%, from US$92.6 million in May 2024 to US$247.9 million in June 2024.
The sharp increase is primarily attributed to a substantial 23% decline in total goods exports, which fell from US$940 million to US$718 million during the same Period.
Meanwhile, total goods imports saw a smaller decline of 6.5%, falling from US$1,033 million in May 2024 to US$966 million in June 2024,
The same report revealed that coffee export revenues experienced a 27.5% surge, rising from $127.3 million in May 2024 to $162.4 million in June 2024. This increase was fueled by a 20.5% growth in export volumes, which went up from 553,802 to 667,288 (60 kg bags).
Additionally, Uganda's coffee export prices rose by 6%, from $3.83 per kg in May to $4.06 per kg in June 2024.
In contrast, cotton export revenues plummeted by 76.2%, dropping from $1.3 million in May 2024 to $0.3million in June 2024.
This sharp decline was driven by a 73.3% reduction in export volumes, which fell from 3,840.3 to 1,024.2 (185 kg bales). Similarly, tea export revenues decreased by 17.6%, from $5.8 million in May 2024 to $4.8 million in June 2024, accompanied by a 17.2% drop in export volumes, from 6,355.0 tonnes to 5,262.8 tonnes.
The fish and fish products sector also saw a decline, with export revenues decreasing by 6.8%, from $11.6 million in May 2024 to $10.9 million in June 2024, alongside a 13.9% reduction in fish export volumes, which fell from 1,618.3 tonnes to 1,393.7 tonnes.
Sim sim export revenues dropped significantly by 63.6%, from $3.4 million in May 2024 to $1.2 million in June 2024, with export volumes plummeting by 59.8%, from 1,446.3 tonnes to 581.1 tonnes.
Maize export revenues saw a slight decrease of 3.0%, from $10.5 million in May 2024 to $10.2 million in June 2024, as maize export volumes declined by 9.1%, from 27,432.5 tonnes to 24,932.1 tonnes.
Beans export revenues fell by 14.7%, from $5.5 million in May 2024 to $4.7 million in June 2024, despite an 11.5% increase in export volumes, which rose from 7,159.5 tonnes to 7,980.2 tonnes. However, Uganda’s export prices for beans decreased from $0.76 per kg in May 2024 to $0.58 per kg in June 2024.
In contrast, the cocoa beans sector experienced a substantial increase in export revenues by 58.6%, rising from $11.6 million in May 2024 to $18.4 million in June 2024.
This growth was driven by a 32.9% rise in cocoa beans export volumes, which increased from 3,010.0 tonnes to 3,999.5 tonnes.
Rice export revenues also rose by 32.0%, from $0.2 million in May 2024 to $0.3 million in June 2024, supported by a 66.1% increase in export volumes, from 205.5 tonnes to 341.4 tonnes.
However, sugar export revenues declined by 18.3%, dropping from $18.9 million in May 2024 to $15.5 million in June 2024, with export volumes decreasing by 14.3%, from 26,809.8 tonnes to 22,974.3 tonnes.