Share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda
Uganda: Share of population living below national poverty lines was 16.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda, 1992–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of population.
Analysis
Uganda recorded 16.1% for share of population living below national poverty lines in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of down 18.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda peaked at 56.4% in 1992 and was at its lowest, 16.1%, in 2023.
Uganda ranks 41st of 70 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 10 years of available data.
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % of population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 56.4% | — |
| 1996 | 44.4% | -21.3% |
| 1999 | 33.8% | -23.9% |
| 2002 | 38.8% | +14.8% |
| 2005 | 31.1% | -19.8% |
| 2009 | 24.5% | -21.2% |
| 2012 | 19.7% | -19.6% |
| 2016 | 21.4% | +8.6% |
| 2019 | 20.3% | -5.1% |
| 2023 | 16.1% | -20.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 44.9% | 33.8% | 56.4% | 3 |
| 2000s | 31.5% | 24.5% | 38.8% | 3 |
| 2010s | 20.5% | 19.7% | 21.4% | 3 |
| 2020s | 16.1% | 16.1% | 16.1% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More poverty & inequality data for Uganda
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 4.28 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,920 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -1.96 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 12.46 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 12.5% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda?
- Share of population living below national poverty lines in Uganda was 16.1% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 56.4% in 1992.
- What is the lowest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.1% in 2023.
- How does Uganda rank for share of population living below national poverty lines?
- Uganda ranks 41st out of 70 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of population living below national poverty lines rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Uganda data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living below national poverty lines. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.