- Ugandan youth (aged 18-30) have more education than their elders, with a majority (54%) reporting secondary (42%) or post-secondary (12%) education.
- But young citizens are more likely than older cohorts to be unemployed: More than one-third (36%) say they don’t have a job and are looking for one.
- Health, education, and infrastructure/roads top the list of priorities that young Ugandans say their government must address. Unemployment ranks sixth.
- More than half of young Ugandans approve of their government’s performance on improving basic health services (54%) and addressing education needs (59%). But only 36% say it is performing well on job creation.
- A majority (57%) of young people see their country as moving in “the right direction.” But more than half (54%) also rate the country’s economic condition as bad.
- Two-thirds (66%) of young Ugandans experienced moderate or high levels of lived poverty during the year preceding the survey.
- More than half (52%) of youth say they have thought about leaving Uganda, an 11-percentage-point increase since 2017. Most cite finding work and escaping economic hardship as the main reasons they would consider emigration.
More than three out of four Ugandans are under age 35, giving the country one of the world’s youngest populations (UNICEF, 2024). More than 10.7 million of them are youth, defined in Uganda as people aged 18-30 years, and about half of youth are not in employment, education, or training, according to government estimates (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2024). Helping young citizens transit to professional life remains a key challenge (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2023a, 2023b).
Uganda’s National Youth Action Plan aims to promote sustainable livelihoods, employment, enterprise development, education/training as well as access to services for youth (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 2016). The National Development Plan III seeks to foster economic growth, reduce poverty, and enhance youth employment in industry and trade (National Planning Authority, 2020).
In line with these plans, the government designed the National Youth Livelihood Programme to empower youth to participate in sustainable economic growth and employment (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 2021, 2022). As part of this programme, the Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Girl and Boy Child provides skills training (Presidential Initiatives, 2024).
Despite these efforts, young Ugandans continue to confront a wide range of barriers to economic and social development (Parliament Watch, 2025; Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2016; Observer, 2022; Monitor, 2023). High rates of poverty persist despite the country’s significant economic growth in recent years (World Bank, 2023, 2025; African Development Bank Group, 2024). Inadequate education and training and a skills gap between job seekers and open positions limit youth employment (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2023a, 2023b). The 2023 Global Youth Development Index ranks Uganda 155th out of 185 countries on indicators of employment and opportunity, education, equality and inclusion, health and well-being, peace and security, and political and civic participation (Commonwealth, 2024)
The Afrobarometer Round 10 survey (2024) offers some insights into the situation of young Ugandans across several development areas.
Survey findings show that while youth have more education than their elders, they are also more likely to be unemployed. A majority of young citizens see their country as going in “the right direction,” but views on the economy, their own living conditions, and prospects for improvement are mixed at best. Two-thirds of young Ugandans experienced moderate or high levels of lived poverty during the previous year, and more than half say they have considered emigration, usually to look for work and better economic opportunity.
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