Demographics of Uganda

Demographics of Uganda
Population pyramid of Uganda in 2020
Population	45,935,046 (2024 census)
Growth rate	2.9% (2024 census)
Birth rate	40.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	5.02 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	68.96 years
• male	66.71 years
• female	71.27 years
Fertility rate	5.36 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	30.45 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-3.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	48.21%
65 and over	2.38%
Sex ratio
Total	0.96 male(s)/female (2024 census)
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.03 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.71 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Ugandan
Language
Official	English

Demographic features of the population of Uganda include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others.

Population

Demographics development according to the United Nations

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 45,853,778 in 2021, compared to only 5,158,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2015 was 48.1 percent, 49.4 percent was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.5 percent was 65 years or older.

	Total population ( × 1000)	Population percentage
		aged 0–14	aged 15–64	aged 65
1950	5,158	43.1%	54.0%	3.0%
1955	5,899	45.1%	52.1%	2.8%
1960	6,788	45.9%	51.5%	2.6%
1965	8,014	46.6%	50.9%	2.6%
1970	9,446	46.9%	50.5%	2.6%
1975	10,827	47.3%	50.0%	2.6%
1980	12,548	47.6%	49.7%	2.6%
1985	14,631	47.8%	49.6%	2.7%
1990	17,384	48.0%	49.3%	2.7%
1995	20,413	48.5%	48.8%	2.7%
2000	23,758	48.7%	48.6%	2.7%
2005	28,042	48.8%	48.7%	2.5%
2010	33,149	49.1%	48.5%	2.5%
2014 Census Results	34,856	47.9%	49.2%	2.7%

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 27.VIII.2014):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	16 897 849	17 736 801	34 634 650	100
0–4	3 173 950	2 957 078	6 131 028	17.70
5–9	2 834 456	2 717 222	5 551 678	16.03
10–14	2 462 789	2 457 654	4 920 443	14.21
15–19	1 917 797	2 038 836	3 956 633	11.42
20–24	1 444 438	1 744 173	3 188 611	9.21
25–29	1 143 467	1 342 709	2 486 176	7.18
30–34	908 447	1 043 292	1 951 739	5.64
35–39	726 355	809 482	1 535 837	4.43
40–44	617 034	655 383	1 272 417	3.67
45–49	452 081	469 043	921 124	2.66
50–54	371 126	436 977	808 103	2.33
55–59	224 765	255 519	480 284	1.39
60–64	195 283	244 770	440 053	1.27
65-69	136 107	165 043	301 150	0.87
70-74	115 862	161 374	277 236	0.80
75-79	69 095	81 378	150 473	0.43
80-84	51 871	79 398	131 269	0.38
85-89	21 572	30 204	51 776	0.15
90-94	15 125	22 046	37 171	0.11
95	16 229	25 220	41 449	0.12
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	8 471 195	8 131 954	16 603 149	47.94
15–64	8 000 793	9 040 184	17 040 977	49.20
65	425 861	564 663	990 524	2.86

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Based on the results of the 2014 Population Census.):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	20 428 000	21 156 000	41 584 000	100
0–4	3 610 000	3 519 000	7 129 000	17.14
5–9	3 150 000	2 964 000	6 114 000	14.70
10–14	2 842 000	2 705 000	5 547 000	13.34
15–19	2 503 000	2 478 000	4 981 000	11.98
20–24	1 978 000	2 074 000	4 052 000	9.74
25–29	1 480 000	1 764 000	3 244 000	7.80
30–34	1 155 000	1 378 000	2 533 000	6.09
35–39	913 000	1 059 000	1 972 000	4.74
40–44	718 000	814 000	1 533 000	3.69
45–49	605 000	656 000	1 261 000	3.03
50–54	446 000	468 000	914 000	2.20
55–59	357 000	421 000	778 000	1.87
60–64	221 000	259 000	480 000	1.15
65-69	170 000	217 000	387 000	0.93
70-74	115 000	144 000	259 000	0.62
75-79	83 000	119 000	202 000	0.49
80	81 000	116 000	197 000	0.47
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	9 602 000	9 188 000	18 790 000	45.19
15–64	10 377 000	11 372 000	21 749 000	52.30
65	449 000	596 000	1 045 000	2.51

United Nations population projections

Numbers are in thousands.

UN medium var

2050

101,873

Refugee population

According to the UNHCR, Uganda hosts over 1.1 million refugees on its soil as of November 2018. Most come from neighbouring countries in the African Great Lakes region, particularly South Sudan (68.0 per cent) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (24.6%).

Vital statistics

Registration of births and deaths in Uganda is not yet complete. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs prepared the following estimates.

Year	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950	302,000	144,000	157,000	52.4	25.1	27.4	6.65	148.5
1951	308,000	147,000	161,000	52.1	24.9	27.2	6.66	147.2
1952	315,000	148,000	167,000	51.9	24.4	27.5	6.68	144.5
1953	322,000	149,000	173,000	51.6	23.8	27.7	6.71	141.9
1954	329,000	150,000	179,000	51.2	23.3	27.9	6.73	139.7
1955	335,000	150,000	185,000	50.7	22.7	28.0	6.76	137.4
1956	342,000	150,000	192,000	50.3	22.1	28.2	6.79	135.2
1957	349,000	149,000	199,000	49.9	21.4	28.5	6.83	132.9
1958	356,000	148,000	207,000	49.5	20.6	28.9	6.87	130.7
1959	364,000	148,000	217,000	49.2	20.0	29.2	6.92	128.7
1960	371,000	147,000	224,000	48.7	19.3	29.4	6.94	127.0
1961	379,000	147,000	233,000	48.4	18.7	29.7	6.97	125.3
1962	389,000	147,000	242,000	48.2	18.1	30.0	7.00	123.7
1963	399,000	148,000	252,000	48.0	17.8	30.3	7.02	121.9
1964	411,000	149,000	262,000	48.0	17.4	30.6	7.05	120.3
1965	425,000	152,000	273,000	48.1	17.2	31.0	7.09	118.7
1966	440,000	156,000	285,000	48.4	17.1	31.3	7.12	117.4
1967	457,000	157,000	299,000	48.6	16.7	31.9	7.15	115.5
1968	474,000	161,000	313,000	48.9	16.6	32.3	7.19	114.1
1969	489,000	164,000	325,000	48.8	16.4	32.4	7.16	112.9
1970	506,000	169,000	337,000	49.0	16.4	32.6	7.19	112.2
1971	522,000	192,000	330,000	49.1	18.1	31.0	7.20	116.2
1972	535,000	198,000	338,000	49.0	18.1	30.9	7.22	116.4
1973	546,000	202,000	343,000	48.8	18.1	30.7	7.22	114.7
1974	558,000	211,000	347,000	48.7	18.4	30.3	7.22	118.8
1975	575,000	218,000	356,000	48.9	18.6	30.3	7.23	118.0
1976	590,000	228,000	362,000	48.9	18.9	30.0	7.23	120.2
1977	604,000	238,000	366,000	48.8	19.2	29.6	7.21	122.4
1978	620,000	248,000	372,000	48.7	19.5	29.2	7.18	126.3
1979	638,000	257,000	381,000	48.8	19.7	29.2	7.16	127.4
1980	651,000	282,000	369,000	48.8	21.1	27.7	7.13	133.9
1981	665,000	286,000	379,000	48.8	21.0	27.9	7.12	132.9
1982	678,000	287,000	390,000	48.7	20.6	28.1	7.09	125.8
1983	696,000	290,000	407,000	48.8	20.3	28.5	7.04	122.8
1984	720,000	294,000	426,000	49.2	20.1	29.1	7.00	120.0
1985	752,000	284,000	468,000	49.9	18.9	31.0	7.04	115.0
1986	784,000	293,000	490,000	50.6	18.9	31.6	7.08	113.5
1987	817,000	291,000	526,000	51.1	18.2	32.9	7.12	112.1
1988	845,000	299,000	546,000	51.2	18.1	33.1	7.11	111.0
1989	874,000	310,000	565,000	51.3	18.2	33.1	7.07	109.7
1990	904,000	319,000	586,000	51.4	18.1	33.3	7.04	108.0
1991	930,000	327,000	603,000	51.2	18.0	33.2	6.98	105.8
1992	964,000	335,000	629,000	51.3	17.8	33.5	6.96	103.7
1993	995,000	345,000	650,000	51.2	17.7	33.4	6.93	101.8
1994	1,025,000	353,000	672,000	50.9	17.5	33.4	6.93	100.3
1995	1,058,000	360,000	698,000	50.9	17.3	33.6	6.92	99.2
1996	1,068,000	363,000	704,000	50.2	17.1	33.1	6.89	98.3
1997	1,096,000	367,000	729,000	49.9	16.7	33.2	6.91	97.0
1998	1,112,000	370,000	742,000	49.3	16.4	32.9	6.89	95.2
1999	1,144,000	369,000	775,000	49.1	15.8	33.2	6.88	92.7
2000	1,169,000	368,000	801,000	48.6	15.3	33.3	6.83	89.6
2001	1,197,000	364,000	833,000	48.3	14.7	33.6	6.81	86.0
2002	1,221,000	360,000	861,000	47.8	14.1	33.7	6.78	82.2
2003	1,244,000	355,000	889,000	47.1	13.4	33.7	6.70	78.0
2004	1,271,000	342,000	928,000	46.7	12.6	34.1	6.65	73.4
2005	1,289,000	326,000	963,000	46.0	11.6	34.4	6.57	69.0
2006	1,309,000	311,000	998,000	45.4	10.8	34.6	6.48	64.9
2007	1,328,000	302,000	1,026,000	44.7	10.2	34.5	6.38	61.2
2008	1,344,000	296,000	1,048,000	43.9	9.7	34.2	6.25	57.8
2009	1,372,000	291,000	1,081,000	43.5	9.2	34.3	6.17	54.8
2010	1,397,000	286,000	1,110,000	43.1	8.8	34.2	6.07	51.8
2011	1,417,000	278,000	1,139,000	42.4	8.3	34.1	5.94	49.0
2012	1,435,000	270,000	1,165,000	41.7	7.8	33.9	5.78	46.1
2013	1,448,000	260,000	1,188,000	40.9	7.4	33.6	5.62	43.5
2014	1,461,000	254,000	1,207,000	40.2	7.0	33.2	5.46	41.3
2015	1,479,000	249,000	1,230,000	39.4	6.6	32.8	5.31	39.4
2016	1,498,000	246,000	1,251,000	38.7	6.4	32.3	5.17	37.4
2017	1,537,000	247,000	1,290,000	38.3	6.2	32.2	5.05	35.8
2018	1,580,000	246,000	1,333,000	38.1	5.9	32.1	4.93	34.3
2019	1,600,000	233,000	1,367,000	37.2	5.4	31.8	4.74	33.4
2020	1,636,000	239,000	1,397,000	36.8	5.5	31.4	4.62	32.1
2021	1,668,000	245,000	1,423,000	36.3	5.3	31.0	4.51	31.0
2022	1,694,000	238,000	1,456,000	35.8	5.0	30.8	4.39	30.3
2023	1,713,000	236,000	1,477,000	35.2	4.8	30.4	4.28	28.8
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)(Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Year	Total		Urban		Rural
	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR	CBR	TFR
1982–1984		7.4		6.1		7.6
1985–1988		7.4		5.7		7.6
1995	47.8	6.86 (5.6)	47.7	4.97 (3.8)	47.8	7.17 (5.9)
2000–2001	47.3	6.9 (5.3)	41.3	4.0 (3.2)	48.0	7.4 (5.7)
2006	44.8	6.7	41.0	4.4	45.3	7.1
2011	42.1	6.2 (5.1)	40.3	3.8 (3.6)	42.4	6.8 (5.5)
2014 census		5.8
2016	38.7	5.4 (4.3)	37.0	4.0 (3.4)	39.3	5.9 (4.6)
2018–19		5.0

Fertility data as of 2011 and 2016 (DHS Program):

Region	Total fertility rate (Wanted fertility rate) 2011	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant 2011	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 2011
Kampala	3.3 (2.9)	8.3	5.0
Central 1	5.6 (4.2)	9.9	7.2
Central 2	6.3 (4.6)	9.6	7.1
East Central	6.9 (4.4)	13.7	7.9
Eastern	7.5 (5.3)	12.5	7.5
Karamoja	6.4 (5.8)	18.7	7.5
North	6.3 (4.3)	12.4	7.3
West Nile	6.8 (5.1)	10.4	7.4
Western	6.4 (4.7)	13.2	7.4
Southwest	6.2 (4.4)	11.3	7.2

Region	Total fertility rate (Wanted fertility rate) 2016	Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant 2016	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 2016
Kampala	3.5 (3.1)	6.6	4.7
Karamoja	7.9 (7.4)	15.1	7.8
West Nile	6.0 (5.0)	8.9	6.7
South Central	4.7 (3.9)	8.5	6.4
North Central	5.4 (4.3)	10.3	6.9
Busoga	6.1 (4.5)	12.4	7.5
Bukedi	6.1 (4.3)	13.7	7.4
Bugisu	5.6 (4.3)	9.3	6.8
Teso	6.0 (4.8)	10.4	7.8
Lango	5.1 (3.9)	10.4	7.1
Acholi	5.5 (3.8)	9.6	7.1
Bunyoro	6.0 (4.4)	8.5	6.8
Tooro	5.4 (4.4)	10.6	7.0
Kigezi	4.6 (3.8)	9.7	6.1
Ankole	4.9 (4.2)	8.8	6.4

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy at birth in Uganda

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	40.00
1955–1960	42.60
1960–1965	45.39
1965–1970	48.12
1970–1975	49.14
1975–1980	49.33
1980–1985	49.05
1985–1990	46.86
1990–1995	44.57
1995–2000	44.98
2000–2005	49.92
2005–2010	55.15
2010–2015	58.61
2020	62.85
2021	62.71

South Asians and Arabs

See also: Indian diaspora in East Africa

During the Uganda Protectorate period, the British colonialists used South Asian immigrants as intermediaries. Following independence they constituted the largest non-indigenous ethnic group in Uganda, at around 80,000 people, and they dominated trade, industry, and the professions. This caused resentment among the native African majority, which was exploited by post-Independence leaders.

After Idi Amin came to power in 1971, he declared "economic war" on the Indians, culminating in the Expulsion of Asians in Uganda in 1972. Since Amin's overthrow in 1979 some Asians have returned. There are between 15,000 and 25,000 in Uganda today, nearly all in the capital Kampala.

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics of Uganda in 2022:

• One birth every 19 seconds
• One death every 2 minutes
• One net migrant every 9 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 23 seconds

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

The population of Uganda (2005 FAO data; number of inhabitants in millions)

Population pyramid in 2020

Population

46,205,893 (2022 est.)

44,279,563 (June 2018 estimate)

Religions

Main article: Religion in Uganda

Protestant 45.1%

Anglican 32.0%

Pentecostal/Born Again/Evangelical 11.1%

Seventh Day Adventist 1.7%

Baptist .3%

Roman Catholic 39.3%

Muslim 13.7%

other 1.6%

none 0.2% (2014 est.)

Uganda is a religiously diverse nation with Christianity being the most widely professed religion. According to the 2014 census, over 84 percent of the population was Christian while about 14 percent of the population adhered to Islam, making it the largest minority religion. In 2009, the northern and west Nile regions were dominated by Roman Catholics, and Iganga District in the east of Uganda had the highest percentage of Muslims.

Age structure

0-14 years: 48.21% (male 10,548,913/female 10,304,876)

15-24 years: 20.25% (male 4,236,231/female 4,021,698)

25-54 years: 26.24% (male 6,202,570/female 6,147,304)

55-64 years: 2.91% (male 579,110/female 681,052)

65 years and over: 2.38% (male 442,159/female 589,053) (2020 est.)

Birth rate

40.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 5th

42.9 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

5.02 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 195th

10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.26 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 7th

5.36 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 7th

Population growth rate

3.27% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 8

3.2% (2017 est.)

Median age

total: 15.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 226th

male: 14.9 years

female: 16.5 years (2020 est.)

Net migration rate

-3.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 186th

-0.7 migrants/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.4 years (2016 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

Contraceptive prevalence rate

41.8% (2018)

Urbanization

urban population: 29.3% of total population (2024)

rate of urbanization: 5.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female

total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 estimate)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68.96 years. Country comparison to the world: 180th

male: 66.71 years

female: 71.27 years (2022 est.)

total population: 63.3 years

male: 62.2 years

female: 64.2 years (2014 population census Ubos)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and Trypanosomiasis-Gambiense (African sleeping sickness)

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Uganda is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Education expenditures

3% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 152nd

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 76.5%

male: 82.7%

female: 70.8% (2018)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 10 years

male: 10 years

female: 10 years (2011)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 15.6%

male: 13.8%

female: 17.6% (2017 est.)

Nationality

noun: Ugandan

adjective: Ugandan

Ethnic groups

• Baganda 16.5%
• Banyankole 9.8%
• Basoga 8.8%
• Bakiga 7.1%
• Iteso 7%
• Langi 6.3%
• Bagisu 4.9%
• Acholi 4.4%
• Lugbara 3.3%
• Other 32.1%
• Multi-racial (unknown percentage, recognized in 2016 in Uganda as a multi-racial ethnic group) Multiracial Ugandans in Uganda

Languages

Main article: Languages of Uganda

An ethnolinguistic map of Uganda

English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Swahili (recently made second official language, important regionally but spoken by very few people in Uganda), Luganda (most widely used of the Niger–Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Bantu languages, Nilo-Saharan languages and Arabic.

See also

• Youth in Uganda