Uganda’s gold exports surged by 75.8 percent in 2025, propelled by record global bullion prices and the entry of new dealers, according to data released by the central bank on Tuesday.
Gold shipments generated $5.8 billion in export earnings last year, up from $3.3 billion in 2024, the Bank of Uganda said. The jump means gold has overtaken coffee to become the East African country’s largest export and primary source of foreign exchange, underscoring a significant shift in the country’s export profile.
Coffee has historically been its top foreign exchange earner, accounting for about 46 percent of merchandise exports valued at $12.7 billion. The rapid rise of gold now signals a rebalancing driven largely by external price dynamics rather than a surge in domestic production.
Adam Mugume, the central bank’s executive director for research and economic analysis, said the export boom was partly due to soaring international prices, which attracted new participants into the gold trade and significantly expanded shipment volumes.
“The attractive pricing environment has catalysed strong market participation,” Mugume told Reuters in an email, noting that new commercial entities have entered the sector, boosting export activity.
Global gold prices climbed more than 64 percent through 2025, driven by heightened geopolitical uncertainty and strong demand for safe-haven assets. Prices have continued to rally in early 2026, surging past $4,800 per ounce in January amid escalating geopolitical tensions and expectations of interest-rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
Analysts say bullion could test $5,000 per ounce if risk aversion persists. The rally has had broader African spillovers. In Ghana, the continent’s biggest gold producer, the strength of gold prices helped underpin the cedi’s strong performance last year.
Uganda’s export surge has also been supported by policy changes. The government eliminated export levies on gold, a move aimed at formalising artisanal production and strengthening the country’s competitiveness as a regional processing and trading hub.
Despite producing relatively modest volumes domestically, the fast growing economy has increasingly positioned itself as a conduit for regional gold flows, processing and exporting bullion from neighbouring countries including eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
The country last year inaugurated its first large-scale gold mine—a $250 million, Chinese-owned project in eastern Uganda—marking a step toward expanding domestic output alongside its growing role in regional gold trade.
