Browse a full set of economic indicators

Uganda

Includes Uganda real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Uganda economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Uganda best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Presidential republic

Capital City: Kampala

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Uganda

Currency Ugandan shillings (UGX)

International Reserves USD 3.4 billion (2018)

World Bank, data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 28.1 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) Intl$ 97.0 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2007: 8.1%
2008: 10.4%
2009: 8.1%
2010: 7.7%
2011: 6.8%
2012: 2.2%
2013: 4.7%
2014: 4.6%
2015: 5.7%
2016: 2.3%
2017: 5%
2018: 6.2% (Estimate)
GDP per capita – current prices USD 724.4 (2018, estimate)

GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 2,497.6 (2018, estimate)

GDP (PPP) – share of world total 1980: 0.03%
1990: 0.03%
2000: 0.04%
2010: 0.06%
2019: 0.07% (Estimate)
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 24.2%
industry: 19.9%
services: 47.6%
(2018 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) N/A
Inflation 2015: 5.4%
2016: 5.5%
2017: 5.6%
2018: 2.6%
2019: 3.2% (Estimate)

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2015: 5.4%
2016: 5.5%
2017: 5.6%
2018: 2.6%
2019: 3.2% (Estimate)
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: B

Moody’s: B2

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s
Unemployment rate 2015: N/A
2016: N/A
2017: N/A
2018: N/A
2019: N/A (Estimate)
Household saving rates N/A
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
2015: 34.3%
2016: 37.1%
2017: 39.7%
2018: 41.4% (Estimate)
2019: 43.6% (Estimate)
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2015: -4.7%
2016: -4.8%
2017: -3.8%
2018: -4.2% (Estimate)
2019: -6.6% (Estimate)
Market value of publicly traded shares N/A
Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 5.9% (2017)

Shares in world total merchandising export 0.004% (2018)

Shares in world total commercial services export 0.008% (2018)

Total exports USD 1.6 billion (2018 estimate)

Export commodities Opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems, and medical herbs

Total imports USD 8.3 billion (2018 estimate)

Import commodities Machinery and other capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products

Exports – major partners India 56.5%, Pakistan 29.6% (2017)

Imports – major partners China 21%, Iran 20.5%, Pakistan 11.8%, Kazakhstan 11%, Uzbekistan 6.8%, Malaysia 5.3%(2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -2.5 billion (2018 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP -8.9% (2018 estimate)

FDI inflows 2016: USD 626 million
2017: USD 803 million
2018: USD 1,337 million
FDI Outflows 2016: USD 0.2 million
2017: USD 0.3 million
2018: USD 0.3 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser N/A


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – World Investment Report
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

116 out of 190 countries

Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 169 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 113 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 168 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 135 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 80 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 88 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 92 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 121 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 77 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 99 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking
115 out of 141 countries

(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 95 / Score: 59.7 (Mostly unfree)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+3

Total Area 241,038 sq km

Total Population 1990: 15.78 million
2000: 21.82 million
2010: 30.52 million
2015: 35.49 million
2020: 41.22 million (Estimate)
Urban population as % of total population 1960: 4.4%
1980: 7.5%
2000: 14.8%
2018: 23.8%
Population median age 15.9 years

Population growth rate 3.18% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy 56.3 years (2018 estimate)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 69.9% (last available estimate, 2016)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
42.8 (last available estimate, 2016)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Not Free
Political Rights: 6
Civil Liberties: 5 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 0.4%

Mobile: 57.3%

(2018)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 23.71 % (2017)

Language & Religon

Languages English (official language, taught in schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages and the language used most often in the capital), other Niger-Congo lan

Literacy Total population: 78.4%
Male: 85.3%
Female: 71.5%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
Religions 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.)

World Rankings

Population 41.22
Mercer Cost of living index Kampala: 183rd (2019)

C02 Emissions per capita 0.1 (20130.14 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Uganda

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources

CIA Factbook

Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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