{"id":54975,"date":"2025-07-22T12:32:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-s-trade-deficit-shrinks-as-exports-surge-in-may-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T14:17:17","slug":"rwanda-s-trade-deficit-shrinks-as-exports-surge-in-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-s-trade-deficit-shrinks-as-exports-surge-in-may-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda’s trade deficit shrinks as exports surge in May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The formal trade deficit dropped to $226.75 million in May, reflecting a 2.32% decrease from April 2025 and an even more substantial 18.42% decline compared to the same period last year. The reduction was primarily driven by a strong rebound in domestic exports and moderated import growth.<\/p>\n

Rwanda\u2019s total exports rose to $177.31 million, up 19.39% from April. Domestic exports, mainly goods produced within Rwanda, reached $127.81 million, marking a monthly increase of 21.24%, although still 39.58% lower than in May 2024. <\/p>\n

The export rebound was largely driven by traditional mainstays, particularly tea, coffee, and fresh produce such as avocados, which generated US$31.98 million, representing a 12.64% increase from April and a 40.38% rise year-on-year.<\/p>\n

Exports of animal and vegetable oils soared to $8.79 million, up 20.70% from April and a remarkable 358.48% compared to the same month last year. Beverages and tobacco, though modest in absolute value at $0.93 million, recorded a dramatic surge in annual growth rate of over 12,700%.<\/p>\n

Machinery and transport equipment also contributed to the rebound with a 192.34% increase compared to May 2024, despite showing a monthly decline. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, re-exports rose to $49.51 million, representing a 14.87% increase from April, although this remained 16.25% below the level registered in May 2024. Re-exports continued to be driven by regional demand, particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n

On the import side, Rwanda imported goods worth $404.06 million in May, a 6.15% increase from April. Despite the monthly uptick, this figure reflects a 26.35% decline compared to May 2024. <\/p>\n

Imports were largely composed of mineral fuels and lubricants, valued at $60.48 million, which rose by 16.12% month-on-month. Machinery and transport equipment followed, amounting to $83.22 million, an increase of 12.66% from the previous month. Food and live animals, which cost $75.76 million, saw a modest year-on-year increase of 4.14%.<\/p>\n

A striking development in May was the sharp rise in imports from Saudi Arabia, which surged by over 1,026% year-on-year, indicating a spike in petroleum or fuel-related imports. This import surge placed Saudi Arabia among Rwanda\u2019s top import sources for the month.<\/p>\n

In terms of trade partnerships, the United Arab Emirates remained Rwanda\u2019s largest export destination, purchasing goods worth $44.68 million. The Democratic Republic of Congo followed with $22.31 million in imports from Rwanda, while China was third at $14.07 million. <\/p>\n

On the import side, China led the way with $96.88 million in goods sold to Rwanda. Tanzania followed with $47.09 million, while India contributed $35.97 million. Imports from Kenya also saw a recovery, rising to $32.87 million after a significant slump earlier in the year.<\/p>\n

Most of Rwanda\u2019s trade was conducted via land routes, with land transport accounting for $357.25 million in imports and $84.60 million in domestic exports. However, air transport also saw increased activity, with $46.81 million in imports and $43.21 million in exports handled through airports, highlighting a growing reliance on air freight for high-value or time-sensitive goods.<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda\u2019s trade deficit narrowed in May 2025 as exports posted a notable month-on-month recovery, signalling a positive shift in the country\u2019s external trade dynamics, according to the latest report released by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000091328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-54975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-62","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000091328,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/57070coffee.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000091328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54975"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=54975"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=54975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}