Uganda Demographics
Age Distribution
0-14 years: 48.26% (male 9,223,926/female 9,268,714)
15-24 years: 21.13% (male 4,010,464/female 4,087,350)
25-54 years: 26.1% (male 5,005,264/female 4,997,907)
55-64 years: 2.5% (male 460,000/female 496,399)
65 years and over: 2.01% (male 337,787/female 431,430) (2016 est.)
Birth Rates
5.8 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Childhood Mortality
343 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS rate
7.07% (2015 est.)
Literacy Rates
male: 85.3% female: 71.5% (2015 est.)
Childhood Labor Rates
percentage: 25%
note: data represent children ages 5-17 (2010 est.)
Other Important Notes
The country’s north and northeast lag even further behind developmentally than the rest of the country as a result of long-term conflict (the Ugandan Bush War 1981-1986 and more than 20 years of fighting between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Ugandan Government forces),
ongoing inter-communal violence, and periodic natural disasters.
Uganda has been both a source of refugees and migrants and a host country for refugees.
In 1972, then President Idi AMIN, in his drive to return Uganda to Ugandans, expelled the South Asian population that composed a large share of the country’s businesspeople and bankers. Since the 1970s, thousands of Ugandans have emigrated, mainly to southern Africa or the West, for security reasons, to escape poverty, to search for jobs, and for access to natural resources. The emigration of Ugandan doctors and nurses due to low wages is a particular concern given the country’s shortage of skilled health care workers.
Africans escaping conflicts in neighboring states have found refuge in Uganda since the 1950s; the country currently struggles to host tens of thousands from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and other nearby countries.
Independence from Britain in 1962. Modern political reign since1986.