Income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in Uganda

Uganda: Income share of the richest 1% (before tax) was 21.4% in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
21.4%
Change on year
up 25.7%
World rank
13th
of 113 countries
All-time high
22.7%
in 2002
All-time low
15.2%
in 1989
Years of data
33
1948–2019

Income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in Uganda, 1948–2019

05101520251948198320191948: 20.3 %1949: 19.8 %1950: 20 %1951: 20 %1952: 20.4 %1953: 21 %1954: 21 %1955: 20.9 %1956: 20.8 %1957: 21.1 %1958: 21.5 %1959: 21.5 %1960: 22 %1961: 21.8 %1962: 21.3 %1963: 20.9 %1964: 20.4 %1965: 20.2 %1966: 19.6 %1967: 19.3 %1968: 19.1 %1969: 18.5 %1970: 18.2 %1989: 15.2 %1992: 20.1 %1996: 15.3 %1999: 19.4 %2002: 22.7 %2005: 18 %2009: 18.5 %2012: 15.5 %2016: 17 %2019: 21.4 %

Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Uganda recorded 21.4% for income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in 2019.

That represents a change of up 25.7% on the previous year and up 15.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in Uganda peaked at 22.7% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 15.2%, in 1989.

Uganda ranks 13th of 113 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 33 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1940s 20.0% 19.8% 20.3% 2
1950s 20.8% 20.0% 21.5% 10
1960s 20.3% 18.5% 22.0% 10
1970s 18.2% 18.2% 18.2% 1
1980s 15.2% 15.2% 15.2% 1
1990s 18.3% 15.3% 20.1% 3
2000s 19.7% 18.0% 22.7% 3
2010s 18.0% 15.5% 21.4% 3

Countries ranked near Uganda

  1. 10 Mozambique 22.7% compare
  2. 11 Tunisia 22.4% compare
  3. 12 Turkey 21.7% compare
  4. 14 Georgia 21.1% compare
  5. 15 Zimbabwe 21.1% compare
  6. 16 United States 20.7% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Uganda

All data for Uganda →

Frequently asked questions

What is income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in Uganda?
Income share of the richest 1% (before tax) in Uganda was 21.4% in 2019, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest income share of the richest 1% (before tax) recorded in Uganda?
The highest recorded value was 22.7% in 2002.
What is the lowest income share of the richest 1% (before tax) recorded in Uganda?
The lowest recorded value was 15.2% in 1989.
How does Uganda rank for income share of the richest 1% (before tax)?
Uganda ranks 13th out of 113 countries with data for 2019.
Is income share of the richest 1% (before tax) rising or falling in Uganda?
Over the last ten years it is up 15.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Uganda data come from?
The figures come from World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income share of the richest 1% (before tax). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Income share of the richest 1% (before tax)
Unit
%
Source
World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
113 places, 3,075 data points, 1820–2024
Last refreshed

The share of income received by the richest 1%. Income here is measured before taxes and benefits.