In Uganda, seven out of ten people were spending more money than they were making in 2023, according to the FinScope 2023 survey done by the not-for-profit company Financial Sector Deepening Uganda and funded by the Bank of Uganda, aBi Finance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"Seven out of every 10 Ugandans were operating a personal budget deficit (needing more money than they are earning to cover their personal budget)," the report read.
What is interesting is how the Ugandans' strategy for coping with this financial situation has changed. While people tried to cut costs and work more in 2018, five years later, more people in the East African country were turning to family and friends for help, borrowing money, and using their savings.
The poll, which included a sample of 3,176 Ugandans aged 16 and above, provides insights into the spending habits of at least 24.6 million adult Ugandans, which means that for around 17.2 million individuals in Uganda, their expenses exceed their income.
The study also showed that in terms of financial resilience to various shocks, more Ugandans (i.e. 94%) experienced unexpected expenses in the past year, which is more than two and a half times the 2018 figure (37%).
Among such shocks, the study identified illness of a family member, agricultural risks and theft as the main ones (28%, 22% and 21%, respectively). The main mechanisms used to cope with these shocks were using savings (38%) and cutting back spending (30%). They were followed by the sale of personal items, borrowing and earning additional money.
Furthermore, 75% of Ugandans don't have concrete long-term financial plans. At the same time, the proportion of Ugandans depending on their children for their future has significantly decreased compared to 2018 (more than three times).
The main reasons for the lack of pension savings were a low level of awareness about pension schemes (36%) and unemployment (31%).
As a result, due to the difficulties that Ugandans faced in the past five years, only 11% of Ugandans are content with their financial status, while 89% are not, the study found out.
Despite the above-mentioned difficulties, the paper noticed positive dynamics in some issues. For example, more Ugandans are tracking their spending while moving away from taking out loans.
Furthermore, formal financial inclusion has increased (that is, more Ugandans own or use financial products and/or services provided by a formally accredited financial institution (such as banks)). Internet access has also improved (from 10% to 26%), and more people own mobile phones.
The rate of completion of secondary education has also gotten higher; it increased by 9% compared to 2018 (when 70% of adults did not have a secondary education).
Apart from that, farmers have become much more involved in green activities (more than 12 times in some activities).
The Ugandan economy has struggled in recent years. Since the 2018/19 financial year, Uganda's public debt has increased by 111.7%, according to official figures. Moreover, for this financial year, the country planned to borrow just over Shs13 trillion (about $3.4 billion) from both domestic and external markets to finance the budget and projects, which represents an increase of about 31% compared to the planned domestic and external borrowings for the 2023/2024 financial year.