UBOS report 2006

There are less poor Ugandans today than three years ago, a study of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics has revealed. Nationwide, poverty levels dropped from 38.8% in 2003 to 31.1% in 2006, according to the National Household Survey 2005/06 preliminary results.

In absolute numbers, 8.4 million Ugandans are living in poverty today, compared to 9.8 million three years ago. Of those, the majority (7.9 million) still live in rural areas.

Poverty reduced both in rural and urban areas, though the sharpest drop was seen in the former. Poverty in rural areas fell from 42.7% to 34.2%, a drop of 8.5, whereas in urban areas it dropped only slightly, from 14.4% to 13.7%.

Though poverty reduction was observed all over the country, there is still a big regional divide, according to the survey.
Central Uganda has the lowest percentage of poor people (16.4%), followed by the west (20.5%) and the east (35.9%).

Poverty in the north remains high at 60.7%, down from 63%. The slight improvement is attributed to improved security, aid and trade with South Sudan.
Ugandans also spend more today than a few years ago. Consumption per person increased from sh28,899 in 2002 to sh39,829 in 2006.

In absolute terms, private expenses on education and health more than doubled across all sections of society. "Even the poor want their children educated," the report notes.

Spending on airtime also went up, especially for the poorest (20%) where it more than doubled.

Nationwide, the gap between the poor and the rich narrowed. "At national level, income inequality dropped by 4.5%," the survey said.

However, it notes a widening income gap between regions. Overall, the report observes improvements in the living standards and in the distribution of income.

The survey that was conducted between May 2005 and April 2006 covered 7,426 households in all districts, including IDP camps, and looked at expenditure, poverty trends and income inequality.