Uganda

Catholic life in Uganda is vibrantly expressed in a wide range of ways, from Marian devotion to crowded, life-filled liturgies to celebration of the example of the Ugandan martyrs to charismatic forms of prayer. Catholic and Anglican churches have drawn the bulk of believers for many years, but Muslims are also integrated into ordinary life, and elements of traditional religion still inflect the beliefs of most Ugandans. Pentecostal churches have made significant inroads in the last two decades.

The Ugandan Martyrs (1886) are celebrated here as founders of Catholic faith in East Africa, and as Catholic ancestral intermediaries with God. Their annual June 3 feast at the Shrine of the Ugandan Martyrs at Namagungo, near Kampala, is almost certainly among the largest annual religious gatherings in the world. Read more...

    Religious Affiliation
    Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
    Total Population
    44,270,563 1
    Urban
    23.80% 1
    Rural
    76.20% 1
    Immigrants as % of Population
    1.9% 2
    Level of Public Corruption
    151 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
    Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
    61 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
    Fertility Rate
    5.68 births per adult woman 5
    Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
    5.50% 5
    Life Expectancy at Birth
    59 years 5
    Adult Literacy Rate
    73.21% 5
    Internet Users
    18% 5
    Gross National Income per Capita
    US$670 5
    Population Living Below US$1.90 per Day
    33.2% 5

    These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.

    Baptized Catholics
    19,734,000
    Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
    47.45
    Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
    409,058
    Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
    62,377
    First Communions per Year
    196,116
    Confirmations per Year
    163,881
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
    4,259,130
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
    426,339
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
    13,046
    Church Marriages per Year
    12,746
    Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
    11,874
    Priests
    2,549
    Women Religious (Nuns & Sisters)
    4,164
    Catholics per Priest
    7,742
    Parishes
    654
    Mission Stations (no resident priests)
    6,067
    Catholic Hospitals
    33
    Homes for Aged, Handicapped, Invalids
    16
    • 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
    • 2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
    • 3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
    • 4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
    • 5 UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2016.
    • 6 Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022).
    • 7 World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report, 2016.