Mbabane- Eswatini’s trade deficit with fellow Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries widened significantly in July, as imports continued to outpace exports.

Preliminary merchandise trade statistics for July 2026 released by the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) show that the Kingdom recorded a E111.63 million trade deficit, compared to a deficit of just E31.92 million in July 2025.

The deterioration came as imports from SACU rose by 2.76 per cent year-on-year to E2.78 billion, while exports to the regional bloc slipped marginally by 0.19 per cent to E2.67 billion.

This means that, in July alone, Eswatini bought goods worth about E111.63 million more from SACU countries than it sold to them.

Nonetheless, between April and July 2026, Eswatini’s exports to SACU increased by E322.91 million, or 3.33 per cent, to E10.01 billion, compared to E9.69 billion during the same period of the previous financial year.

Imports, however, rose by a much larger E502.60 million,  representing growth of 4.95 per cent, to E10.67 billion.

Consequently, the cumulative SACU trade deficit widened to E653.37 million,  from E473.69 million recorded between April and July 2025.

The figures show that while Eswatini’s export sector continues to generate billions of emalangeni in sales to its regional trading partners, the growth in exports is not keeping pace with the country’s appetite for imported goods.