Uganda’s population growth fell to 2.7% y/y in 2025.

Neither way is good in itself. Faster growth adds workers and customers over time, and it also adds children to school and families to house, so the direction has no built-in verdict. The latest figure, for January 2025, is 2.7% y/y, down from 2.8% a year earlier, a slowing of 0.05 percentage points. It is the lowest reading since 2016, the start of this window. The highest was 3.5% y/y in January 2017, so growth has eased steadily from that peak.

Why it matters. At 2.7% y/y, Uganda's population is still expanding quickly, so every year brings a large new group of children needing classrooms and, later, jobs. Households with many dependants spread their income across more people. The state has to keep adding schools, clinics and water supply just to maintain current coverage. The slower pace since 2017 gives planners a little more room, though the absolute number of people added each year remains large.