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Uganda

Republic of Uganda

English, Swahili Ugandan Shilling (UGX) English common law, customary law
AU, EAC, COMESA, AfCFTA, Commonwealth, WTO

Uganda is an East African economy with strong agricultural foundations and emerging oil and gas potential. The country's Lake Albert oil fields (operated by TotalEnergies and CNOOC) and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to Tanzania's Tanga port represent transformative investments expected to begin production soon.

Agriculture employs approximately 70% of the population, with coffee as the primary export commodity (Africa's largest exporter of robusta coffee). The services sector, particularly financial services and telecoms, has grown significantly. Kampala is emerging as a startup hub with companies like SafeBoda and Tugende.

Challenges include high youth unemployment, infrastructure gaps, and governance concerns. Uganda benefits from EAC membership providing access to a 300+ million person market.

Snapshot

Population~51.4 MWorld Bank, 2025
GDP (current USD)$62.0 BWorld Bank, 2025
GDP per Capita$1,206World Bank, 2025
GDP Growth6.33%World Bank, 2025
Inflation (y/y)~3.58%World Bank, 2025
CBR (Bank of Uganda)9.50%Central Bank
Unemployment2.75%World Bank, ILO modelled estimate, 2025
Internet Use~8.95%World Bank, 2024
Electrification~42.00%World Bank WDI
CPI Score (Rank)26.0/100 (#141)Transparency Intl
HDI (Rank)0.550 (#166)UNDP HDR
Credit RatingB- (S&P) / B2 (Moody's) / B+ (Fitch)S&P / Moody's / Fitch
MarketUganda Securities Exchange (USE)

World Bank Indicators Compare with another country

GDP (current USD)$62.0 BWorld Bank, 2025
GDP growth (annual)6.33%World Bank, 2025
GDP per capita (USD)$1,206World Bank, 2025
Population, total51.4 MWorld Bank, 2025
FDI net inflows (USD)$3.3 BWorld Bank, 2024
Inflation (consumer prices)3.58%World Bank, 2025
Unemployment (% labour force)2.75%World Bank, 2025
Internet use (% of people)8.95%World Bank, 2024
Trade (% of GDP)50.20%World Bank, 2025

Climate Readiness Full ranking

38out of 100
Early-stage
Climate adaptation readiness for Uganda, from 5 of 5 measured indicators.
Energy access4242.0% · 30% weight
Governance readiness2626 / 100 CPI · 20% weight
Human readiness550.550 HDI · 20% weight
Economic readiness37$1,206, 2025 · 15% weight
Digital readiness2626.0% · 15% weight
This scores climate adaptation readiness (adaptive capacity), following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. It is built only from measured values already held on this profile and normalised 0-100. It does not measure emissions or physical climate vulnerability: the platform does not yet hold emissions, hazard-exposure or natural-capital series. Energy access is the single most climate-specific indicator held; the other four are governance, economic, human-development and digital readiness proxies. The economic sub-score is relative to the African countries the platform covers.
How this is computed

Adaptive capacity to absorb climate finance and adapt, following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. Built only from measured values already held on each country profile. It is not a measure of emissions or physical climate vulnerability, which the platform does not yet hold.

  • Energy access (30%) — World Bank, access to electricity (% of population). The single most climate and energy specific signal held: SDG 7 and the clean-energy transition.
  • Governance readiness (20%) — Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index (0-100). ND-GAIN governance readiness: the capacity to govern and deploy climate finance. Higher is cleaner.
  • Human readiness (20%) — UNDP, Human Development Index (0-1). ND-GAIN social readiness: the adaptive capacity of the population.
  • Economic readiness (15%) — World Bank, GDP per capita (current US$), latest measured year. ND-GAIN economic readiness: the capacity to finance adaptation. Scored relative to the covered set.
  • Digital readiness (15%) — World Bank, individuals using the Internet (% of population). Information systems for early warning and adaptation.

A country is scored only when at least 4 of the five indicators are held. Sub-scores are weighted and renormalised over the indicators that are present; nothing is estimated for one that is absent.

Country Facts

CapitalKampala
RegionEast Africa
CurrencyUgandan Shilling (UGX)
FX RegimeFree float
Stock ExchangeUganda Securities Exchange (USE)
Investment Promotion AgencyUganda Investment Authority (UIA)
Legal SystemEnglish common law, customary law
Time ZoneAfrica/Kampala

Focus Sectors

Agriculture (coffee
tea
fish)
Oil & Gas (Lake Albert)
Mining
Tourism
ICT
Manufacturing
Construction
Financial Services
Education
Healthcare

Regulations & Taxes

Corporate Income Tax30% standard
VAT / Sales Tax18% standard