Ethiopia's record mining exports in 2025/26
Ethiopia earned a record of more than USD 5.7 billion from mineral exports in its 2025/26 fiscal year, which ended on 7 July 2026, according to a Ministry of Mines statement reported by Xinhua. Gold brought in USD 5.65 billion of it. Gemstones sit in the small remainder, and the national statement gives no figure for them.
Gold carried the year
Ethiopia produced 44 tonnes of gold in 2025/26. Ministry data reported by The Reporter put the trend at about 13 tonnes in 2023/24 and nearly 39 tonnes in 2024/25. Officials credit the currency reform of mid-2024 and the formalisation of illicit mining. In April 2025 the Minister of Mines told parliament that gold supplied to the National Bank of Ethiopia had risen sharply straight after the birr was floated.
The Prime Minister reported record total exports of USD 11 billion for the same year, led by gold and coffee, so mining was about half of everything Ethiopia sold abroad. The government's target for mining exports in 2026/27 is USD 6.7 billion.
Where gemstones fit
- Amhara. The region that includes Wollo exported USD 18.24 million of precious minerals in 2025/26. Gold was 73.57% of that, raw opal 18.70% and value-added opal 7.73%: roughly USD 3.4 million of rough opal and USD 1.4 million of worked opal.
- National output. Ministry figures list 6.4 tonnes of opal produced in 2025/26, with no value attached. We found no national figure for emerald.
- The Ministry's own view. Its performance report in November 2025 put gemstone exports at 93% of their foreign-exchange target and described progress in the sector as limited. The Reporter called the trade underdeveloped, held back by pricing distortions, weak supply chains and little industrial processing.
Put side by side, the opal Amhara exported in 2025/26 earned less than a tenth of one per cent of the national mining total.
Why it matters to gemstone buyers
The figures say little about gemstones directly. Gold goes to the National Bank and is reported by the tonne; gemstones have no line in the year-end statement, and the regional and production figures above are the best published guide to the scale of the trade.
The rules behind the gold figures do apply to gemstones. Under the National Bank's foreign-exchange directive of July 2024, every export except gold needs a permit from the exporter's commercial bank, and that bank must make sure the proceeds reach Ethiopia. The government has also been pushing mineral trade into formal channels. In November 2025 the Minister of Mines told parliament that the government was working to have gemstones traded on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, as coffee and sesame are, to curb smuggling. Civil aviation security has introduced certification for minerals leaving by air, and legal exporters now apply electronically with a Ministry of Mines guarantee.
For a buyer abroad, a legal purchase therefore means a bank permit, payment into Ethiopia through the exporter's bank, and clearance before the parcel flies. With Maedot, you pay by international wire to our account at an Ethiopian commercial bank, under National Bank of Ethiopia rules, and we handle the export documents, shipping and insurance.
Sources
- Xinhua, “Ethiopia posts record 5.7-bln-USD annual mining export revenue”, 8 August 2026
- Ashenafi Endale, The Reporter, “Regulatory Gaps Stifle Ethiopia’s Critical Minerals Industry Despite Record Revenue Figures”, 29 August 2026
- Ashenafi Endale, The Reporter, “Gold pours-in following currency float, exports at all-time high: Ministry report”, 5 April 2025
- Surafel Ashebir, The Reporter, “Gold Accounts for Three-Quarters of Amhara’s Mineral Export Earnings”, 1 August 2026
- Addis Fortune, “First Opal Trading Center Emerges in Amhara State”, 18 May 2019
- Nardos Yoseph, The Reporter, “Large-scale Gold Miners Fall Short of Expectations Despite Export Boom: Ministry Report”, 22 November 2025
- National Bank of Ethiopia, “Foreign Exchange Directive No. FXD/01/2024”, in force 29 July 2024
- Eyasu Zekarias, Capital, “Gemstone trade to be regulated through ECX to combat smuggling”, 23 November 2025
More from the journal
Ethiopia's new foreign-exchange rules for exporters
How a foreign buyer can pay an Ethiopian exporter under directive FXD/01/2024, and what the 2025 and 2026 amendments changed on the buyer's side.
Opal and the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange
Opal contract specifications for the exchange are finished, but no gemstone has traded on it yet. What has happened since 2021, and what it means for buyers.
Where Ethiopian opal goes
Most Ethiopian opal leaves rough for India and is cut in Jaipur. The figures, and what they mean for buyers elsewhere and in India.