Koboko had a total population of 129,200 persons (65,400 females and 63,800 males) in 2002. Over a period of 12 years the population more than doubled from 62,337 to 129,200 in 1991 to 2002. The district’s current population as per 2014 Population and Housing census is 208,163 persons (102,091 males and 106,072 females). Of these 37,825 leave in the urban while 170,338 leave in the rural areas.

Showing population growth over the years

Bar graph showing trend of population growth in Koboko

The population density was 188 persons per square kilometre of land area in 2002. However, this population density figure is up from 101 and 57 persons per square kilometre of land in 1991 and 1980 respectively when the District was still a county under Arua District. The current population density is 305 persons per square kilometre with 30,762 households compared to 20,034 in 2002.

Graph showing population distribution per Sub County in 2014

Critical demographic ratios and population densities

Total Population (Mid-2015 Projection):                                               208,163

Female population (Mid-2015 Projection):                                           106,072               

Male population: (Mid-2015 Projection):                                              102,091                

Percentage of total population that is male:                                          49%                                       

Percentage of population that is female:                                               51%                                       

Percentage urban (Mid-2015 Projection): -                                           18.2%                                  

Percentage rural (Mid-2015 Projection):                                                81.8%                   

Percentage share of Uganda’s total Population:                                     0.6%                     

Primary school population aged 6 – 12 years (2015):                            44,093                 

Secondary School population aged 13 – 19 years (2015): -                               

Sex ratio of total population (2014 census):                                          96.2%                   

Population density (2014 census):                                                         254 persons

Average household size:                                                                        6.7

Sex Composition of the Population 

The sex ratio is generally defined as the number of males per 100 females which is an index for comparing the numerical balance between the two sexes in different population groups irrespective of the size, location and time reference. Overall, according to the 2002 census, there are 63,800 males compared to 65,400 females giving a sex ratio of 98 males per 100 females as compared to 97 males per 100 females in 1991. But according to 2014 Population and Housing census there were 102,091 males as compared to 106,072 females giving a sex ratio of 96 males 100 this shows that the number of males has dropped over the years

Population Growth

Koboko District average population growth rate has been 5.6% between 1991 and 2002 well above the national average population growth rate of 3.2%. This was much higher than the growth rate observed between 1980 and 1991. This increase could be attributed to the influx of refugees in the late 1990s that are living within the town. Another reason could be the fact that the county was insecure and many of the residence who fled to the neighbouring countries had returned by 2002 census. But in 2014 the population of Koboko District rose to 208,163 as compared to 129,200 in 2002 this gives us a rate of 3.98% population growth rate in the district, which is above the national growth rate.

Given the high growth rate, the district needs to expand substantially its entire infrastructure especially in education, health, and water supply in order to enhance the welfare of its population. This means increasing the utilization of the natural resources that could easily lead to depletion of the scarce natural resources for the future generation.