The Bank of Uganda announced that gold exports rose by 75.8% last year compared to the previous year, driven by higher global prices, attracting new investors and traders to the sector.
Adam Mugomi, Executive Director of Research and Economic Analysis at the central bank, stated that the value of gold exports reached $5.8 billion in 2025, up from $3.3 billion in 2024, noting that the surge was partly due to record-high global gold prices.
With this performance, gold has overtaken coffee to become Uganda’s largest export by volume and its top source of foreign currency, marking a significant shift in the structure of Uganda’s economy, which has relied on coffee as a key commodity for decades.
Although Uganda produces limited quantities of gold, it has recently become a regional hub for processing and trading gold from neighboring countries, particularly from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Reflecting growing interest in the sector, Uganda launched its first large-scale gold mine in the east of the country last year, with a $250 million Chinese investment, which could further boost domestic production in the future.
Global gold prices surged over 64% during 2025 amid escalating geopolitical tensions that increased demand for the metal as a safe haven. The Ugandan official noted that attractive prices encouraged new market entrants, contributing to the growth in exports, though no precise figures were provided for the quantities exported.
