The headline
The Bank of Uganda reported that bullion exports rose to roughly 5.8 billion dollars in 2025 from about 3.3 billion in 2024, an increase near 76 per cent. Gold has now displaced coffee as the country's biggest export earner by a wide margin.
Record prices did most of the lifting. A dollar figure that rises while the metal itself repriced sharply is not evidence of a mining boom, and the central bank did not present it as one.
Three flows inside one number
The export line blends three distinct things: metal mined and processed inside Uganda, metal bought from regional artisanal supply and refined at Ugandan facilities, and metal that transits Kampala with limited domestic value added. Only the first two create durable jobs and tax base.
Analysts who treat the total as a proxy for domestic output will overstate the country's reserve position by a considerable margin. The useful series is licensed production reported to the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines, not customs value.
What to watch next
Two indicators matter through 2026: refinery throughput at licensed plants, and whether royalty and levy receipts rise in step with export value. If receipts lag export growth materially, the composition of the flow, rather than the price, is the story.