Since its start in the1950s, Kasese Town has grown rapidly in terms of population. The population increased from 18,750 resident’s in 1992 to 53,907 in 2002. With the expansion of the Kasese planning area, and upgrading to a municipality in 2010, the town currently has a total population of 101,065 people (UBOS 2014). With an annual growth rate of 5.3%.The population of the municipal council is projected to reach

Population in 2014 by Division

Population Density

The information in the table above shows that Central Division has the highest population density in Kasese Municipality, followed by Nyamwamba, and then Bulembia Division.

Population Projections for 2015 – 2021,   9321

Natural Resources Endowments

Land Area

Since its start in the 1950s, Kasese Town has grown rapidly in terms of size. Presently the Town occupies a total land area of 176 square kilometres. Based on the structure plan of 2008, the land uses are distributed as follows: Residential (50%), Commercial (20%), Industrial Land (20%), Institutional (5%), Recreational and environmental protection zones (5%).  The land is distributed among the divisions as here

under.

Vegetation

The vision of Kasese municipal council highly cherishes the need to have a clean Town in a green environment. The Town has 5% of her total land Area gazetted as environmental protection zones including Green Corridors, open spaces, vulnerable hills and riverbanks. The green vegetation cover makes the town attractive and preserves beauty and the natural environment hence making the town a better place to live in.

Tourism Sites

Kasese Municipal Council is sandwiched between 3 National Parks namely, the Queen Elizabeth, Kibale and Rwenzori Mountains National Parks with a wide range of Biodiversity (animals, birds, plants and reptiles). The Rwenzori Mountains though located astride the equator is snow covered throughout the year and has been declared a world heritage site. All the two mountain climbing routes to the Rwenzori Mountains converge in Kasese Town. The Numerous Rivers from the mountains, a rich forest and vegetation cover, lakes George, Edward and the Kazinga channel are also home to unique species of Flora and fauna. Due to a rich cultural heritage of the people of the Ruwenzori Mountains, community tourism has been enhanced. In support to the tourism sector, hotels and recreation facilities such as Margherita hotel, Virina Gardens, numerous camping sites have emerged. The upgrading of the Kasese air field to an airport and the revival of the western axis of the railway will go a long way in easing accessibility and boosting Tourism.

Social Economic Infrastructure

Economic Infrastructure

Other economic and social infrastructure include; 1 hospital, 12 Lower health centres of which 7 are Government and 5   are NGO founded, a road network of 176 Kilometres of which about 36Kms are Tarmac and the rest are earth and gravel roads, several hotels and recreation facilities such as Margherita Hotel, a vibrant business community where the majority are formal and informal sector businesses, 8 open public markets where agricultural produce is mainly sold, a good telecommunication and internet network provided by MTN, WARID, Airtel and orange companies. The present upgrading of the Kasese airfield to an airport and the revival of the railway line will ease transport and further enhance accessibility.

Industry

Kasese Town has been gazetted by Government as an industrial Town of western Uganda consequently, a number of mineral and agriculturally based industries exist including Cobalt Processing Plant, the Kilembe copper mines, 4 cotton ginneries, a mattress manufacturing factory, brick making and numerous food and coffee processing facilities. Other industries in the neighborhood that contribute towards the economic growth of the Municipality include cement and limestone processing at Hima and the Lake Katwe Salt Works. The construction of the Industrial and Business Park in Kasese Municipality, which is currently underway supported by a readily available market in eastern Congo, will also go a long way in boosting the Industrial potential.

Agriculture

About 10% of the urban population is urban farmers. Farming is done in the peri-urban areas of the Municipality. In addition, the town houses the famous Mubuku Irrigation scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) that has been recently rehabilitated by Government. Major crops produced include cereals, maize, and horticultural crops. A few households keep cattle, goats and sheep in the Peri -Urban areas. The community is also slowly adopting mushroom growing and floriculture technologies.

Financial services

The major financial service providers include Stanbic Bank, Centenary Bank, Barclays Bank and Post Bank. Other several Micro-Finance institutions supplement these.

Education institutions

There is a total of 27 government aided and 33 private primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 3 tertiary vocational schools with a total enrolment of 24,867 learners. Bugema University and Nsamizi Training Institute also operate campuses in Kasese Municipality.