Uganda's international tourism, number of departures was 568,000 in 2016, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 123.62% from 254,000 in 2006 (8.38% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 568,000 | 2016 |
| Five years earlier | 367,000 | 2011 |
| Ten years earlier | 254,000 | 2006 |
| Highest | 568,000 | 2016 |
| Lowest | 148,000 | 1997 |
| Average since 2007 | 415,300 | 2007–2016 |
| First recorded | 148,000 | 1997 |
What the numbers say
In 2016, Uganda's international tourism, number of departures rose 8.6% on 2015 (from 523,000 to 568,000).
Across the 18 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2015), the average change was +10.4% and a typical year strayed about 24.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 62.8% in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 53.2% in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2007 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about 33,388 a year. A straight line explains 94% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 663,857 for 2019. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2014 to 2016 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 27,955, against 63,000 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
See how every economy compares in the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda | 568,000 | 2016 |
| World | 2.03 billion | 2019 |
What this measures
International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.
Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.
All 20 values
| Year | International tourism, number of departures |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 568,000 |
| 2015 | 523,000 |
| 2014 | 511,000 |
| 2013 | 471,000 |
| 2012 | 469,000 |
| 2011 | 367,000 |
| 2010 | 324,000 |
| 2009 | 311,000 |
| 2008 | 337,000 |
| 2007 | 272,000 |
| 2006 |
International tourism, number of departures in nearby economies
- Eswatini — 488,000 (2020)
- Mauritius — 65,000 (2020)
- Seychelles — 19,000 (2020)
- Sierra Leone — 122,000 (2019)
- Zimbabwe — 3.28 million (2019)
More private sector & trade data for Uganda
- Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 49.85% (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$18.4 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$12.5 billion (2025)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 35% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 38.06% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.54% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in South Asia (% of total merchandise imports) — 11.15% (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Uganda's international tourism, number of departures?
- 568,000 in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1997?
- It is up 283.78% from 148,000 in 1997 (7.34% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 568,000 in 2016 and the lowest 148,000 in 1997.
- Is the latest change in international tourism, number of departures unusual for Uganda?
- In 2016, Uganda's international tourism, number of departures rose 8.6% on 2015 (from 523,000 to 568,000). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2015), the average change was +10.4% and a typical year strayed about 24.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.DPRT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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