Share of plastic waste exports in Uganda
Uganda: Share of plastic waste exports was 0.3% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Uganda, 1994–2023
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Uganda recorded 0.3% for share of plastic waste exports in 2023. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
That represents a change of up 217.8% on the previous year and up 709.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Uganda peaked at 0.3% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2005.
That places Uganda 42nd out of 162 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of plastic waste exports in Uganda, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 0.0% | — |
| 1996 | 0.0% | -94.9% |
| 2001 | 0.0% | +391.2% |
| 2005 | 0.0% | -90.7% |
| 2007 | 0.0% | +19467.0% |
| 2010 | 0.0% | +379.0% |
| 2011 | 0.0% | -22.7% |
| 2012 | 0.0% | +99.1% |
| 2013 | 0.0% | +66.8% |
| 2014 | 0.0% | +11.8% |
| 2015 | 0.0% | -13.2% |
| 2016 | 0.0% | +23.8% |
| 2017 | 0.1% | +28.5% |
| 2018 | 0.1% | +17.6% |
| 2019 | 0.1% | +17.3% |
| 2020 | 0.1% | +19.8% |
| 2023 | 0.3% | +217.8% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 0.3% is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.0%, 18.1× the median. (14 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 0.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.0%, 9.3× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of plastic waste exports in Uganda changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +19467.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
- 39 Cyprus 0.3% compare
- 40 Luxembourg 0.3% compare
- 41 Iran 0.3% compare
- 43 Bangladesh 0.3% compare
- 44 Brazil 0.3% compare
- 45 El Salvador 0.3% compare
More environment data for Uganda
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -11.7 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -12.54 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.255 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 1.23 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 1.38 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Uganda?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Uganda was 0.3% in 2023, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3% in 2023.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2005.
- How does Uganda rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Uganda ranks 42nd out of 162 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is up 709.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Uganda data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.