Uganda vs Zambia
Uganda vs Zambia: Government debt
Government debt in 2025: 53.2% of GDP in Uganda and 100.6% of GDP in Zambia, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Zambia, by 47.4 percentage points, or 1.89 times that in Uganda.
% of GDP · IMF
What the numbers say
- Zambia has been higher since 2007, when it overtook Uganda.
- In 2025, Uganda ranked 73 and Zambia ranked 13 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
- The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Uganda at 57.2% of GDP and Zambia at 56.7% of GDP in 2031.
Every year
% of GDP · IMF
| Year | Uganda | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 53.2 | 100.6 |
| 2024 | 51.8 | 125.5 |
| 2023 | 50.4 | 136.8 |
| 2022 | 49.9 | 99.5 |
| 2021 | 50.3 | 111 |
| 2020 | 46.8 | 140 |
| 2019 | 38 | 103.3 |
| 2018 | 35 | 81.2 |
| 2017 | 33.6 | 66.6 |
| 2016 | 31.3 | 61.2 |
| 2015 | 28 | 61.9 |
| 2014 | 24.8 | 33.9 |
| 2013 | 22.1 | 25.9 |
| 2012 | 19.5 | 24.9 |
| 2011 | 18 | 20.8 |
| 2010 | 18.4 | 18.9 |
| 2009 | 14.8 | 20.5 |
| 2008 | 15.7 | 19.2 |
| 2007 | 17 | 21.9 |
| 2006 | 27.8 | 25 |
| 2005 | 42.6 | 75.8 |
| 2004 | 49 | 129.9 |
| 2003 | 55.1 | 159.5 |
| 2002 | 54.7 | 180.2 |
| 2001 | 51.4 | 210.2 |
| 2000 | 48.6 | 261 |
| 1999 | 47.7 | – |
| 1998 | 45.1 | – |
| 1997 | 44.2 | – |
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
| Year | Uganda | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 55.1 | 82.1 |
| 2027 | 54.9 | 77 |
| 2028 | 55.1 | 72.3 |
| 2029 | 56 | 67.2 |
| 2030 | 56.8 | 61.9 |
| 2031 | 57.2 | 56.7 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
- Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
- The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
- Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time
Uganda vs Zambia
Health
- Life expectancyUganda: 68.3 years in 2023Zambia: 66.4 years in 2023
- Child mortalityUganda: 4.9 per 100 live births in 2024Zambia: 4.8 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityUganda: 28.8 per 1,000 live births in 2023Zambia: 38.2 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- DepressionUganda: 4.92% in 2017Zambia: 3.64% in 2017
- Suicide rateUganda: 11.5 per 100,000 people in 2017Zambia: 13.1 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationUganda: 48.7 million people in 2023Zambia: 20.7 million people in 2023
- Population growthUganda: 2.78% a year in 2023Zambia: 2.83% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateUganda: 4.28 births per woman in 2023Zambia: 4.1 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationUganda: 31.9% in 2025Zambia: 45.9% in 2025
- Median ageUganda: 16.5 years in 2023Zambia: 17.5 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overUganda: 2.2% in 2023Zambia: 1.9% in 2023
- Net migration rateUganda: -2.6 per 1,000 people in 2023Zambia: 0.5 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingUganda: 1.96% of GDP in 2025Zambia: 1.26% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsUganda: $1.2B in 2025Zambia: $343M in 2025
- Military spending per personUganda: $26 in 2025Zambia: $19 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingUganda: 9% of government spending in 2025Zambia: 4.5% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelUganda: 46,000 people in 2020Zambia: 16,000 people in 2020
- National powerUganda: 0.2% of world capability in 2022Zambia: 0.1% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersUganda: 0.24% of the labour force in 2020Zambia: 0.24% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsUganda: 2 million TIV in 2025Zambia: 1 million TIV in 2024
- Arms exportsUganda: 4 million TIV in 2016Zambia: 2 million TIV in 1990