The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has released preliminary results from the National Population and Housing Census 2024, revealing that Uganda’s population has reached 45.9 million.
This marks an increase of 11.3 million people since the last census in 2014, which recorded 34.6 million Ugandans.
The results were unveiled at an event held at the Kampala Serena Hotel, officiated by president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The dissemination ceremony was presided over by the Executive Director of UBOS, Dr. Chris Ndatira Mukiza, who also served as the Census Commissioner for the National Population and Housing Census 2024. The Minister of ICT, Chris Baryomunsi, was also in attendance, among other dignitaries.
The 2024 census has revealed significant demographic trends. Notably, Uganda’s average household size has seen a slight decrease from 4.8 in 2002 to 4.7 in 2024. The total number of households has significantly increased over the decades, from 5,043,000 in 2002 to 10,845,119 in 2024.
According to Mukiza, Uganda continues to have a predominantly young population, with children (0-17 years) making up 50.5% and youth (18-30 years) comprising 22.7%. The working-age population (14-64 years) stands at 55.6%, while older persons (60+) account for 5.0% of the total population. population has shown steady growth since the early 20th century. The intercensal population by sex from 1911 to 2024 reveals that females constitute 51% of the total population.
Regional population distributions show that the Buganda region remains the most populous with 11.1 million residents, followed by Busoga with 4.4 million, and Ankole with 3.9 million. The census also enumerated 780,061 refugees living in Uganda.
Other notable regions include West Nile with 3.9 million, and Acholi with 2.0 million. Meanwhile, Fort Portal has a population of 1.3 million, Soroti: 1.4 million and Karamoja: 1.5 million.
Urban centers have experienced considerable growth, Kampala, has a resident population of 1,875,834, with an additional 627,340 visitors recorded during the daytime in the last 14 days prior to enumeration.
Mukiza further noted that other cities such as Mbarara, Gulu, and Mbale have also seen significant increases in both resident and daytime populations.
Mbarara has 261,656 residents, Gulu: 232,723 residents, Masaka: 285,509 residents, Hoima: 141,442 residents, Lira: 246,437 residents, Mbale: 289,941 residents, Jinja: 292,386 residents,Arua: 380,824 residents,Fort Portal: 135,702 residents and Soroti: 133,774 residents, among others.
The 2024 census was the first digital census conducted in Uganda, a milestone acknowledged by UBOS. The Bureau expressed gratitude to the government, the public, and all stakeholders for their cooperation and support in ensuring the success of the census.
Dr. Mukiza praised the efforts of enumerators, census supervisors, and special enumerators, including those from the police, prisons, UPDF, UBOS project staff, and Foreign Affairs staff. He also thanked the Electoral Commission and District/City Internal Security Organizations for their roles in the census process.
Ubos will release provincial results in September and the final report by December 2024.
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