What is the currency of Uganda?

The currency of Uganda is the Ugandan shilling. It is abbreviated USh and has the ISO 4217 code UGX. The currency is issued by the Bank of Uganda and is used for most everyday financial transactions in the country.

Uganda’s first national shilling replaced the East African shilling in 1966, initially at par. Severe inflation later led to a replacement currency in 1987. The second Ugandan shilling, still used today, was introduced at a rate of 1 new shilling for 100 old shillings.

The Ugandan shilling was officially divided into cents until 2013. Inflation made the subdivision impractical, so the currency now has no active fractional unit. Coins and notes are issued in much larger denominations than the original shilling series.

The word shilling can cause confusion because Kenya and Tanzania also use currencies with that name. They are distinct currencies with different ISO codes: Kenya uses KES and Tanzania uses TZS, while Uganda uses UGX. US dollars are also widely accepted in Uganda, particularly in tourism-related transactions, but they are not the national currency.