Uganda: Lending interest rate (%)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Uganda's lending interest rate (%) fell 1.43 percentage points on 2017 (from 21.28% to 19.85%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1986 to 2017), the average change was +0.52 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 9.33 percentage points in 1986 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.25 percentage points in 1991. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Uganda in the 2018 ranking

• Kosovo — 2nd of 3: 6.65%
• Chile — 3rd of 3: 4.18%

What this measures

Lending rate is the bank rate that usually meets the short- and medium-term financing needs of the private sector. This rate is normally differentiated according to creditworthiness of borrowers and objectives of financing. The terms and conditions attached to these rates differ by country, however, limiting their comparability.

Limitations: Countries use a variety of reporting formats, sample designs, interest compounding formulas, averaging methods, and data presentations for indices and other data series on interest rates. The IMF's Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual does not provide guidelines beyond the general recommendation that such data should reflect market prices and effective (rather than nominal) interest rates and should be representative of the financial assets and markets to be covered. For more information, please see http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/mfs/manual/index.htm.

All 38 values

Lending interest rate (%) in nearby economies

• Angola — 19.37% (2025)
• Benin — 6.25% (2021)
• Botswana — 6.26% (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 6.25% (2021)
• Burundi — 12.37% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 7.75% (2025)
• Comoros — 8.03% (2022)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 24.11% (2025)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 5.3% (2016)
• Eswatini — 10.88% (2024)
• Gambia, The — 22% (2025)
• Guinea-Bissau

More financial sector data for Uganda

• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 12.55% (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$3,676 (2025)
• Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$3,603 (2025)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 12.6% (2025)
• Broad money (current LCU) — 50.81 trillion (2025)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 22.3% (2025)
• Broad money to total reserves ratio — 3.22 (2024)
• Broad money (annual % growth) — 20.04% (2025)
• Net domestic credit (current LCU) — 50.23 trillion (2025)
• Net foreign assets (current LCU)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Uganda's lending interest rate (%)?

19.85% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1980?

It is up 7.85 percentage points from 12% in 1980. The highest value was 40% in 1989 and the lowest 12% in 1980.

Is the latest change in lending interest rate (%) unusual for Uganda?

In 2018, Uganda's lending interest rate (%) fell 1.43 percentage points on 2017 (from 21.28% to 19.85%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1986 to 2017), the average change was +0.52 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FR.INR.LEND, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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.

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