Population explosion expected as birth rate climbs

Uganda's population has grown by 10 percent in just two years, giving the East African country the highest population growth rate in the region, according to census results released on Thursday. The Uganda National Bureau of Statistics, which carried out the 2002 census, predicted that Uganda’s population would reach 26.8 million by mid-2005, up from 24.4 million in September 2002. "Census results indicate that Uganda's population is growing at an alarming rate of 3.3 percent [per annum], which is above that of countries in the region - by June 30 this year, the country will have 26.8 million people," Andrew Mukulu, a government statistician, told journalists as he unveiled the results of the national survey. "Over a period of about 11 years [January 1991 to September 2002], there was a net increase of 7.7 million persons in Uganda. This is the highest inter-censual increase ever registered [in the country]," Mukulu added. 1991’s census recorded the country’s population as just 16.7 million, while its growth rate was 2.5 percent. 2002’s data indicated that of the country’s 24.4 million people, 12.5 million were females – thus there were 95 males for every 100 females. The census further showed that the population was fairly young, with 49 percent of Ugandans being below the age of 15. "Fertility rates are still high - at seven children born to every woman. This has contributed to persistently high growth rates," the bureau said in a statement. However, although high population growth can sometimes overburden the development process, the bureau noted that Uganda’s poverty and development indicators had not suffered: the number of people living below the poverty line actually dropped from 9.8 million in 1992, to 9.2 million in 2002. Thursday’s findings followed a report by the UN Population Division in 2004, which forecast that Uganda’s population would triple between 2005 and 2050. The UN’s report also predicted that the world’s population would increase to 9.1 billion by 2050, and named Uganda as one of eight countries likely to contribute significantly to this increase.