Online Program

Establishment Surveys in Uganda
Imelda Atai Magdelene Musana, Uganda Bureau of Statistics 
*Tom Makumbi Nyanzi, Makerere University 


Keywords: Experiences, Business Inquiry ,Census of Business Establishments,

Establishment Surveys in Uganda date back to the 1960s. The sector coverage varied by survey, time and sometimes was dependent on funding and the use to which the data was put. The most comprehensive Census of Business Establishments (COBE) was conducted in 1989 followed by the one undertaken in 2001/2002 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS). The UBOS also conducted another COBE in 2010/2011.

In Uganda the COBE precedes the Business Inquiry since the former is the main sampling frame and it provides weights on employment required for the Business Inquiry. The data for this survey is normally obtained from the books of accounts kept by businesses. However, more than 90 percent of the businesses are in the informal sector, characterised by lack of proper books of accounts, not easily located, frequent change of their main activity as well low turnover (UBOS, 2011). Therefore it is quite a challenge to undertake Business Inquiries to compile the statistics of main economic indicators for such businesses like Vale Added. This paper will therefore look at the experiences of undertaking Business Inquiries in Uganda where majority of the businesses are in the informal sector.