Demographics of Uganda

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

Population

According to the total population was in, 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.
Population by Sex and Age Group :

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 :

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.

Refugee population

By October 2025, Uganda hosted roughly 1.95 million refugees, more than any other country in Africa. Most are rural groups mainly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as from Somalia, Burundi, and Rwanda. From 2023, more than 90,000 refugees fleeing the civil war in Sudan have entered.

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.

Demographic and Health Surveys

Total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate :
Fertility data as of 2011 and 2016 :

Region	Total 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	8.3	5.0
Central 1	5.6	9.9	7.2
Central 2	6.3	9.6	7.1
East Central	6.9	13.7	7.9
Eastern	7.5	12.5	7.5
Karamoja	6.4	18.7	7.5
North	6.3	12.4	7.3
West Nile	6.8	10.4	7.4
Western	6.4	13.2	7.4
Southwest	6.2	11.3	7.2

Region	Total 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	6.6	4.7
Karamoja	7.9	15.1	7.8
West Nile	6.0	8.9	6.7
South Central	4.7	8.5	6.4
North Central	5.4	10.3	6.9
Busoga	6.1	12.4	7.5
Bukedi	6.1	13.7	7.4
Bugisu	5.6	9.3	6.8
Teso	6.0	10.4	7.8
Lango	5.1	10.4	7.1
Acholi	5.5	9.6	7.1
Bunyoro	6.0	8.5	6.8
Tooro	5.4	10.6	7.0
Kigezi	4.6	9.7	6.1
Ankole	4.9	8.8	6.4

Life expectancy at birth

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

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 Multiracial Ugandans in Uganda
South Asians and Arabs

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.

Languages

English, Swahili, Luganda, other Bantu languages, Nilo-Saharan languages and Arabic.

Religion

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, about 53% population.