Uganda made it onto the list of ten African countries with the highest average monthly salaries; taking the 10^th position, with an average monthly salary of USD 738 (about 2.6 million shillings). Uganda’s average monthly salary, by the way, is an amount that is higher than Uganda’s gross domestic product (GDP), which, in 2021, was estimated at USD 655.65 (about 2.4 million shillings).

If you consider that GDP is a country’s annual economic output per person, then it means that Uganda’s average monthly salary of 2.6 million shillings is 92.3 percent higher than the monthly economic output of an individual Ugandan, which, in 2021, was estimated at only 200,000/= (two hundred thousand shillings). This means that the economic output of 13 Ugandans is needed in order for Uganda to pay a single average monthly salary.

Which begs the questions:

• How many Ugandans are earning monthly salaries that are 2.6 million shillings and above?
• How many Ugandans are earning monthly salaries that are less than 2.6 million shillings?

Well, if it takes the output of 13 Ugandans in order to pay a single average monthly salary, it is logical to surmise that a minority of Ugandans earn a monthly salary that is 2.6 million shillings and above; while the majority of Ugandans earn a monthly salary that is way below 2.6 million shillings.

You may want to appreciate that on the list of 10 countries with the highest average monthly salaries, it is only Uganda that has an average monthly salary that is higher than its country’s GDP. Why is that the case? Food for thought indeed.