Economy · Public debt · Uganda
Uganda’s public debt rose to 54.4% of GDP in 2024.
54.4% of GDP
2024
Up 1.3 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
54.4% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up what the central government owes and divides it by the size of the whole economy, so it rises when borrowing runs ahead of growth in national income. Scaling by GDP makes debt comparable across years and countries. It covers the central government only, so local authorities and other public bodies sit outside the total.
Lower is better. A lower share is better because a smaller debt relative to national income takes less of the government's revenue for interest and leaves more room to borrow in a crisis. Uganda's latest figure is 54.4% of GDP for 2024, up from 53.1% a year earlier, a rise of 1.3 percentage points. Since 2018 the lowest reading was 34.7% of GDP in 2018. The highest is the current 54.4% of GDP, so debt sits at the top of its range for the period.
Why it matters. A debt ratio of 54.4% of GDP means the state has to set aside a growing part of its tax revenue to pay interest, which leaves less for roads, schools and clinics. Households can feel this through pressure for higher taxes or fees. Firms may find credit dearer if the government draws heavily on local lenders. The 2018 level of 34.7% of GDP shows how much the burden has grown over the period.
| Period | Public debt · Uganda |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 34.7% of GDP |
| 2019 | 38.5% of GDP |
| 2020 | 44.2% of GDP |
| 2021 | 51.3% of GDP |
| 2022 | 53.9% of GDP |
| 2023 | 53.1% of GDP |
| 2024 | 54.4% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Public debt, Uganda, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/public-debt/uganda
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
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Methodology
Central government debt, total, as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP. The measure covers central government only.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series GC.DOD.TOTL.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.