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Priority value chains — coffee, cocoa, beef and leather among them — with the FY2023/24 export figures showing what Uganda actually sells and which markets buy it.

Ministry of Trade, Industry & Cooperatives

Government has prioritised a set of strategic commodities where Uganda has clear competitive advantages and access to growing markets. These value chains present opportunities across production, processing, logistics and export — and the export figures below show which of them are already earning, and where they are earning it.

Priority value chains

  • Coffee — Uganda is among Africa's largest exporters; opportunities lie in washing, roasting and direct specialty export.
  • Cocoa — rising global demand for traceable, high-quality beans grown in western and central Uganda.
  • Beef & dairy — the cattle corridor supports processing, abattoirs and cold-chain distribution.
  • Leather — hides and skins feeding tanneries and finished-leather manufacturing.

Leading export commodities by value, FY2023/24

Uganda earned USD 7,898.2 million from formal exports in FY2023/24. Gold and coffee together accounted for just over half of that; the figure below shows every commodity and what it was worth.

Leading export commodities by value, FY2023/24 (USD million) — share of total
  • Gold and gold compounds3,048.438.6%
  • Other commodities1,635.820.7%
  • Coffee1,135.114.4%
  • Maize252.93.2%
  • Cocoa beans217.92.8%
  • Fish and fish products155.12.0%
  • Iron and steel153.71.9%
  • Petroleum products142.21.8%
  • Sugar and sugar confectionery113.41.4%
  • Beans and other legumes113.31.4%
  • Cement93.71.2%
  • Plastic products84.81.1%
  • Tobacco79.21.0%
  • Tea71.40.9%
  • Palm oil69.10.9%
  • Flowers61.70.8%
  • Sorghum54.90.7%
  • Live animals48.60.6%
  • Electric current46.90.6%
  • Mineral water42.20.5%
  • Vegetables41.20.5%
  • Fruits38.50.5%
  • Sesame seeds38.50.5%
  • Soap37.50.5%
  • Beer32.40.4%
  • Animal and vegetable fats and oils24.00.3%
  • Vanilla22.70.3%
  • Bananas19.40.2%
  • Cassava17.70.2%
  • Rice7.00.1%
Grand total7,898.2100%

Every line of the source table is drawn, largest first. Bars are the share column as published, not recalculated, and their lengths are set against the largest line rather than the total so the smallest categories stay visible.

Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2024.

Leading export destinations by region and economic bloc, FY2023/24

Africa took 31.3% of Uganda's exports in FY2023/24 — USD 2,392 million — with COMESA the largest bloc and Kenya the largest single market within it. The Middle East, Asia and the European Union took most of the remainder, led by the United Arab Emirates, India and Italy respectively; the figure below shows each bloc and what it was worth.

Leading export destinations by economic bloc, FY2023/24 (USD million) — share of total
  • COMESA2,132.0229.4%
  • Middle East2,013.9427.8%
  • Asia1,573.4221.7%
  • European Union1,091.7715.1%
  • Rest of Africa260.213.6%
  • The Americas105.031.5%
  • Rest of Europe60.450.8%
  • Unclassified5.490.1%

Every line of the source table is drawn, largest first. Bars are the share column as published, not recalculated, and their lengths are set against the largest line rather than the total so the smallest categories stay visible.

Source: Bank of Uganda, 2024.

About these figures

Both figures are drawn from the published tables, line for line and share for share. Two things are worth knowing before citing them: the commodity values sum to USD 7,899.2 million against a published total of USD 7,898.2 million, a rounding difference of USD 1 million; and the destination values sum to USD 7,242.33 million, so the bloc shares are calculated on a smaller base than the UBOS commodity total and the two tables are not directly comparable line for line.

Detailed commodity and value-chain profiles are available in the portal's Profiles & Fact Sheets library to guide investment decisions.

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