Economy · Current account balance · Uganda
Uganda’s current account balance rose to −5.2% of GDP in 2025.
−5.2% of GDP
2025
Up 3.3 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
−5.2% of GDP
What it is. The current account balance adds up a country's trade in goods and services, income paid to and received from abroad, and transfers such as remittances and aid. Dividing by GDP makes the figure comparable across years and economies. A negative number means the country spends more abroad than it earns there. The measure leaves out how the gap is paid for, such as foreign investment or borrowing.
Higher is better. A higher balance means a country relies less on foreign money to cover its bills, so higher is better. Uganda's latest figure is −5.2% of GDP for 2025, up from −8.4% a year earlier, an improvement of 3.3 percentage points. Since 2016 the range runs from a low of −9.6% of GDP in 2020 to a high of −2.9% of GDP in 2016. The latest reading sits closer to the 2016 high than to the 2020 low, though it is still a deficit.
Why it matters. A deficit of this size means Uganda needs foreign investment, loans or grants to cover what it buys abroad beyond what it earns. When that financing is scarce, pressure falls on the shilling, and imported fuel, medicine and machinery become more expensive for households and firms. The narrower gap in 2025 eases that pressure for the state and for importers compared with 2024.
| Period | Current account balance · Uganda |
|---|---|
| 2016 | −2.9% of GDP |
| 2017 | −4.9% of GDP |
| 2018 | −6.3% of GDP |
| 2019 | −7.4% of GDP |
| 2020 | −9.6% of GDP |
| 2021 | −8.9% of GDP |
| 2022 | −8.9% of GDP |
| 2023 | −7.4% of GDP |
| 2024 | −8.4% of GDP |
| 2025 | −5.2% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
How to read this number
- Source
- Who published the figure
- Published
- When they released it
- Verified
- When we last checked it against the source
Every change is logged in Corrections. How the figure is made: Methodology.
Cite this number
Show text
Strata-AF™ Data, Current account balance, Uganda, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/current-account-balance/uganda
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
Strata AI commentary is coming — reviewed, dated, and generated only from the figures on this page.
Methodology
Current account balance as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP. A negative value is a deficit.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.