Demographics of Uganda

Demographics of Uganda
Population pyramid of Uganda in 2020
Population45,935,046 (2024 census)
Growth rate2.9% (2024 census)
Birth rate40.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate5.02 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy68.96 years
 • male66.71 years
 • female71.27 years
Fertility rate5.36 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate30.45 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-3.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years48.21%
65 and over2.38%
Sex ratio
Total0.96 male(s)/female (2024 census)
At birth1.03 male(s)/female
Under 151.03 male(s)/female
65 and over0.71 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityUgandan
Language
OfficialEnglish

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[1][2] 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.[3]

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):[4]

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.):[4]

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.[5] 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%).[5]

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. [6]

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):[7][8][9]

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[10] 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):[11]

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[12]
1950–1955 40.00
1955–1960 Increase 42.60
1960–1965 Increase 45.39
1965–1970 Increase 48.12
1970–1975 Increase 49.14
1975–1980 Increase 49.33
1980–1985 Decrease 49.05
1985–1990 Decrease 46.86
1990–1995 Decrease 44.57
1995–2000 Increase 44.98
2000–2005 Increase 49.92
2005–2010 Increase 55.15
2010–2015 Increase 58.61
2020 Increase 62.85
2021 Decrease 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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15][16]

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)[17]
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

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

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Uganda.
  1. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. ^ Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  5. ^ a b "Uganda Comprehensive Refugee Response Portal". Operational Data Portal. UNHCR. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  6. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022 - Population Division - United Nations". population.un.org. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  7. ^ "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys". microdata.worldbank.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  8. ^ "The DHS Program - Uganda: Standard DHS, 2011". Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  9. ^ "The DHS Program - Uganda: Standard DHS, 2016". Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  10. ^ "National Population and Housing Census 2014" (PDF). Ubos.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Uganda : Demographic and Health Survey 2011" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  13. ^ Uganda : People, CIA World Factbook, 2018 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ Census 2014 Final Results
  15. ^ United States Department of State (2009-10-26). "Uganda". International Religious Freedom Report 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-11-30. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  16. ^ a b "Africa :: UGANDA". CIA The World Factbook. 19 April 2022.
  17. ^ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/uganda-population/
  18. ^ "Uganda: Multi-Racial Tribe To Get Citizenship, President Assures". The African Exponent. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2020.[permanent dead link‍]