2m Babies Added Onto Uganda’s Population Every Year

More than  two million children added onto Uganda’s population every year and with a fertility rate of about seven children per woman in rural areas, Uganda is likely to see its population rise to from 36.4 million in 2014 to 102 million by 2050, the 2016 projections indicate. The majority of Ugandans live in rural areas and most women in these parts of the country are illiterate. Uganda’s literacy rate stands at 67.1 percent. This according to a latest population report will have surpassed Tanzania’s 99.8 million and Kenya’s 95.5 million by 2050. Currently, Tanazania has 53.7 million people while Kenya’s population stands at 44.5 million people. The government released the projections on Thursday while launching a report that assesses the state of the country’s population, with a pledge to improve quality of health care of the population, improve incomes, and improve survival of maternal and infant mortality rates and keeping a keen eye on the implications of Uganda’s high growth rate. The report pledges further to ensuring universal access to minimum health care package, improving nutrition, health research, and provision on integrated preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitation services.
This announcement coincided with the timing of a global report which shows that the world population will also hit the nine billion mark on Thursday.
The State of Uganda Population Report 2016, launched in Kampala alongside the State of the World Population Report 2016, paints a distressing picture of a country whose rapidly rising population could have “negative impacts” for its per capita economic growth. The report indicates that throughout most of that time, the majority of Uganda’s population is likely to be young – leaving a perpetually huge weight of dependence on a small number of productive Ugandans. The report provides the latest trends and statistics on adolescent and youth populations in Uganda, how they are key to economic and social progress and what must be done to realise their full potential. Promising results in urban areas. The report further points out that the fertility rate of Ugandan women (in urban areas) has reduced from seven to now 5.8 children per woman since 2014. The report, however, however shows that the figure is still above the sub-Saharan average of 4.8 children per woman.