Uganda Population

Uganda age structure

As of the beginning of 2016 according to our estimates Uganda had the following population age distribution:

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 19 773 758 young people under 15 years old ( 9 959 854 males / 9 813 508 females)
• 19 065 824 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 9 606 085 males / 9 459 343 females)
• 820 965 persons above 64 years old ( 333 938 males / 486 630 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Uganda population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section “Uganda age structure” is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Uganda is 108 %.

As we can see the dependent part of population is comparable to the working part. It means that each working person in Uganda must provide goods for himself and cover expenditure on one child or aged person additionally. The value of 108 % shows that the pressure on productive population in Uganda is very high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Uganda is 103.7 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Uganda is 4.3 %.

Source: The estimation data for section “Uganda age dependency ratio” is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Uganda is 53.2 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 52.2 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 54.3 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 14 689 469 persons or 73.87% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Uganda are able to read and write. Accordingly about 5 196 527 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 80.85% (8 036 409 persons). 1 903 614 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 66.89% (6 653 060 persons). 3 292 913 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 87.43% and 86.57% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 87%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section “Uganda population literacy” is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .