Census Analytical Report - Uganda Bureau of Statistics

The 2002 Population and Housing CensusSummaryThe Ugandan labour force consists of persons aged 14 to 64 who were eitheremployed (in paid employment, self-employed and unpaid family workers) orunemployed (without work and available for work).It is estimated that there were 12 million Ugandans in working age group, of which 6.4million were in the labour force. Though more females (52 per cent) were eitherworking or looking for work as compared to males but they were less likely to beemployed. Most of the labour force is rural based. Participation levels by gender showhigher participation rates amongst women in rural than in urban areas. The largestportion of the labour force is found in the Central region. The census results furtherindicated that there were more persons with secondary education and above whowere less likely to find jobs compared to those with out formal education or primaryeducation.About 70 per cent of the employed persons were subsistence farmers of which 78percent were females and 61 percent were males. The census findings showed thatabout 9 in every 10 persons without formal education were in subsistence agriculturewith the percentage of subsistence farmers reducing as education levels increase.The Unemployment Rate in Uganda was 4.6 percent. The Urban UnemploymentRate was at 10 percent. Results indicate a complex relationship between educationand unemployment. The unemployment rate was lowest amongst those withouteducation and primary education (4 percent). The graduates’ unemployment rate was7.2 per cent in 2005 prompting the adoption of policies geared towards orientinggraduates from being job seekers to job makers.The census also collected information on the Micro and Small Enterprises in thecountry, which showed that there were 1.1 million enterprises employing about 1.7million people. Central region had the highest percentage of MSEs (35 percent) withKampala alone having 10 percent. The majority of the MSEs were in trade, theNorthern region had the highest share of women employed in MSEs.82