Uganda earned $1.21 billion from labour export remittances in 2018

Uganda earned $1.21 billion from remittances from labour exports in 2018 - a relatively stagnant figure for the last three years.

While remittances from the Middle East continue to rise -- thanks to the increased number of workers exported to the UAE -- there was a decline in receipts from other regions like Europe, Southern Africa and South Sudan.

Bank of Uganda's executive director of research told the East African that more than half of the $1.21 billion remittances were from the Middle East.

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Mugume Adam says the figure is a representation of stagnating remittances 'due to weak receipts from elsewhere, especially European countries'.

In 2017, the Bank of Uganda reported that Uganda earned $1.16 in 2017 from remittances -- a slight improvement of 4.1 per cent.

Over 70,000 Ugandans have been exported to the Middle East since 2015.