According to the EAC Quarterly Statistics Bulletin, total trade of the East African Community reached USD 52.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 37 percent year on year, driven by strong export growth.
The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat published its Quarterly Statistics Bulletin for April-June 2026 on 16 September 2026: total regional trade reached USD 52.3 billion, up 37.0 percent from USD 38.2 billion a year earlier.
Exports rose 41.3 percent to USD 26.3 billion, while imports grew 32.9 percent to USD 26.0 billion, producing a regional trade surplus of USD 0.3 billion, compared with a deficit of USD 945.3 million a year earlier.
Intra-EAC trade and African markets
Intra-EAC exports rose 33.2 percent to USD 3.2 billion, though their share of total EAC exports fell from 12.8 percent to 12.1 percent over the period, as exports to markets outside the Community grew faster. Exports to African markets rose 44.3 percent to USD 7.2 billion (27.5 percent of the total), with a 50.8 percent increase to SADC and a 48.3 percent increase to COMESA.
China remains the top trading partner
China remained the EAC's largest single export destination and import source: exports to China nearly doubled, from USD 5.7 billion to USD 10.7 billion, driven by minerals and other raw materials. Copper and precious metals accounted for 61.9 percent of total exports, up from 58.7 percent a year earlier.
Inflation and monetary conditions
Regional inflation (the EAC Harmonised Consumer Price Index) eased from 11.1 percent in April to 7.8 percent in June 2026, well below the 22.7 percent recorded a year earlier. For the 2025/26 fiscal year, regional average annual inflation fell to 14.2 percent, from 23.0 percent in 2024/25, helped by declining inflation in South Sudan and Burundi.
Broad money supply (M3) grew 15.3 percent year on year to USD 107.7 billion, supported by growth in private-sector credit (+15.0 percent, to USD 75.9 billion).
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