{"id":1938,"date":"2026-06-25T15:33:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:33:34","slug":"rwandas-trade-falls-5-13-in-q1-2026-as-exports-drop-sharply-according-to-nisr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/rwandas-trade-falls-5-13-in-q1-2026-as-exports-drop-sharply-according-to-nisr\/economy\/business\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda\u2019s trade falls 5.13% in Q1 2026 as exports drop sharply according to NISR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/images.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1939\" style=\"width:797px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/images.jpg 700w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/images-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gap between Rwanda\u2019s imports and exports narrowed by 5.13% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report shows that the total value of goods traded by Rwanda between January and March 2026 stood at $1.89291 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exports of goods produced in Rwanda and sold on the international market were valued at $366.85 million, representing a 23.7% decline compared to $480.82 million recorded in the first quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imports during the same period amounted to $1.33221 billion, reflecting a 3.4% decrease from $1.37905 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, total trade declined by 5.13% year-on-year, driven largely by the sharp fall in export earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China remained the leading destination for Rwanda\u2019s exports, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Re-exports were heavily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounted for 72.19% of all goods re-exported by Rwanda. Other key destinations included Kenya, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Burundi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of export composition, food and live animals remained the leading category, valued at $67.23 million, followed by petroleum products, oils, and related goods at $61.79 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the import side, China remained Rwanda\u2019s largest source of imported goods, supplying $355.53 million worth. India followed with $154.28 million, Tanzania with $126.3 million, Kenya with $93.8 million, Uganda with $77.67 million, and the United Arab Emirates with $76.43 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The data underscores China\u2019s continued dominance as Rwanda\u2019s top import partner, while the DRC remains central in regional re-export trade flows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gap between Rwanda\u2019s imports and exports narrowed by 5.13% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, according to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-economy","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1941,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938\/revisions\/1941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}