Rwanda has witnessed a growth in formal trade and external trade in goods according to a National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda monthly data report.
The “Formal external trade in Goods” report published this Monday September 2, 2024 shows that the deficit in the balance of formal trade in goods reaching $472.66 million- an increase of 14.83% compared to the previous month of June 2024.
Year-to-year, the formal trade in goods deficit increased by 49.88% on the deficit of July 2023.
Exports and Re-Exports:
The July statistics on external Trade in Goods, show the value of domestic exports increased by 36.14% compared to June 2024 and by 79.91% compared to July 2023.
The re-export values increased by 9.17% compared to June 2024 and by 8.35% compared to July 2023.
Imports:
In July 2024, imports value increased by 20% compared to June 2024 and by 52.89% compared to July 2023.
The figures come at a time when Rwanda has approved the second 5-year National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) built on 5 priorities- of which trade promotion is one of the focus areas of growth.
In Trade, Rwanda also plans to increase exports from $3.5billion to $7.3billion annually.
This will be based on the need to increase local manufacturing plants and factories especially in non-traditional products, agro-processing, mining value addition at a time when the country is set for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, construction materials, packaging materials, mosquito nets, and fertilizer blending, among others.
