In 1990 the Ugandan government around the nation's population to be 16.9 million people; international estimates ranged as high as 17.5 million. Most estimates were based on extrapolations from the 1969 census, which enumerated around 9.5 million people. The results of the 1980 census, which counted 12.6 million people, were cast in doubt by the loss of census data in consequent outbreaks of violence. Life expectancy in 1989 averaged fifty-three years, roughly two years higher for women than men. The population was increasing by over 3.2 % per year, a substantial increase over the rate of 2.5 % in the 1960s and remarkablely more than the 2.8 % growth rate around for most of East Africa.At this rate, Uganda's population was expected to double between 1989 and the year 2012. The crude birth rate, around to be 49.9 per 1,000 population, was equivalent to other regional estimates. Fertility ratios, defined as the number of live births per year per 1,000 women between the ages of sixteen and fortyfive years, ranged from 115 in the south to more than 200 in the northeast. In general, fertility declined in more developed areas, and birth rates were lower among educated women. The crude death rate was 18 per 1,000 population, equivalent to the average for East Africa as a whole. Infant mortality in the first year of life averaged 120 per 1,000 population, but some infant deaths were not reported to government officials. Deaths from AIDS were increasing in the late 1980s. Death rates were generally lower in highaltitude areas, in part because of the lower incidence of malaria.

Although Uganda is colonised by a large mixture of ethnic groups, a division is usually made between the “Nilotic North” and the “Bantu South.” Bantu speakers are the largest portion of Uganda's population. Of these, the Ganda (BaGanda; the prefix Ba- is often affixed to suggest the people) remain the largest single ethnic group, constituting almost one-fifth of the total national population. Other Bantu speakers are the Soga, Gwere, Gisu, Nyole, Samia, Toro, Nyoro, Kiga, Rwanda (Banyarwanda), Nyankole, Amba, and Konjo. South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis), speaking mostly Gujarati and Hindi, came to Uganda largely in the 19th and 20th centuries and by 1969 numbered more than 50,000. Although Ugandan citizenship was made available to them when Uganda became independent, most Asians chose not to accept this offer. The population declined drastically when Idi Amin, head of government from 1971 to 1979, expelled all noncitizen Asians in 1972.