Rwanda earned $3.5 billion from foreign exports in 2023, representing a 17.2% increase from $2.9 billion earned in 2022, as stated in the 2023 Rwanda Development Board annual report.
In the same period, services exports receipts were $1.04 billion, an increase of 18.4% compared to the previous year, mainly due to a recovery in travel.
On the other hand, goods exports receipts were $2.47 billion, an increase of 16.8% when compared to the previous year, attributed to the good performance of manufacturing activities, according to the RDB 2023 annual report.
The United Arab Emirates received the largest share of exports, amounting to 56.9%, primarily for goods such as minerals and horticulture products, generating $951.1 million in 2023.
Other countries included the Democratic Republic of Congo at 10.4%, China at 5.0%, Hong Kong at 2.6%, and the United Kingdom at 2.2% of Rwanda’s total exports.
The RDB reports that the top ten exported products included other unwrought gold (including gold plated with platinum), non-monetary coffee, not roasted and not decaffeinated, other black tea (fermented) and other partially fermented tea, niobium, vanadium ores, tantalum and concentrates, tin ores and concentrates, tungsten ores and concentrates, maize (corn) flour, wheat or meslin flour, other flour, meal and powder of sago or of roots or tubers, and other portland cement.
The Rwanda Development Board emphasized that RwandAir transported a total of 4,595 tons of cargo, with the majority of shipments destined for Dubai, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.
Rwanda earns $3.5 billion from exportation
