Demographics of Ghana

Demographic features of the population of Ghana include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, religious affiliations, and other aspects.

Ghana's population is 30,832,019 (2021 census).

Languages


Ghana is a multilingual country in which about 80 languages are spoken. English is the official language and lingua franca. Of the languages indigenous to Ghana, Akan is the most widely spoken.

Ghana has more than seventy ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language. Languages that belong to the same ethnic group are usually mutually intelligible.

Eleven languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: four Akan ethnic languages (Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, Fante and Nzema) and two Mole–Dagbani ethnic languages (Dagaare and Dagbanli). The rest are Ewe, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, and Kasem, Hausa.

Ethnic groups
Ghana has more than seventy native ethnic groups. Major native African ethnic groups in Ghana include the Akan at 45.7% of the population, the Mole-Dagbon at 18.5%, the Ewe at 13.9%, the Ga-Dangme at 7.1%, the Gurma at 6.4%, the Guan at 3.2%, the Grusi at 2.7%, Mande at 2% and others at 1.6%. Some 20 thousands of Native Europeans live in Ghana.

Education
Primary and junior secondary school education is tuition-free and mandatory. Since 1987, the Government of Ghana has increased its education budget by 700%. Basic education's share has grown from 45% to 60% of that total.

Students begin their six-year primary education at the age of six. They pass into a junior secondary school system for three years of academic training combined with technical and vocational training. Those continuing move into the three-year senior secondary school program. Entrance to one of the best Ghanaian universities is by examination following completion of senior secondary school with a pass mark.

Demographic trends


Ghana's first post independence population census in 1961 counted about 6.7 million inhabitants. Between 1965 and 1989, a constant 45% of Ghana total female population was of childbearing age.

The crude death rate of 18 per 1,000 population in 1965 fell to 13 per 1,000 population in 1992. Life expectancy rose from a 1992 average of 42 years for men and 45 years for women to 52 and 56 years in 2002. The fertility rate averaged two children per adult female in 2013.

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 26.IX.2010):

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2015) (Data based on the 2010 Population Census.):

Births and deaths based on UNDESA
In July 2022, the United Nations published its 2022 World Population Prospects, a biennially-updated database where key demographic indicators are estimated and projected worldwide down to the country level. They prepared the following estimates of demographic indicators in Ghana for every year from 1950 to 2021, as well as projections for future decades.

Fertility and births based on Demographics Health Survey
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) Demographics Health Survey:

Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.


 * One birth every 35 seconds
 * One death every 2 minutes
 * One net migrant every 53 minutes
 * Net gain of one person every 48 seconds

The following demographics are from the independent Ghana Statistical Service and from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

 * 33,107,275 (2022 est.)
 * 30,802,793 (Feb 2020 )
 * 25,009,153 (December 2013 est. ) Females- 50.5% Male- 49.5%

Religions
Christian: 71.3% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 31.6%, Protestant 17.4%, Catholic 10%, other 12.3%), Muslim 19.9%, traditionalist 3.2%, 2.1% Hindu, other 1.3%, none 1.1% (2021 est.)

Age structure

 * 0-14 years: 37.44% (male 5,524,932/female 5,460,943)
 * 15-24 years: 18.64% (male 2,717,481/female 2,752,601)
 * 25-54 years: 34.27% (male 4,875,985/female 5,177,959)
 * 55-64 years: 5.21% (male 743,757/female 784,517)
 * 65 years and over: 4.44% (male 598,387/female 703,686) (2020 est.)


 * 0–14 years: 37.83% (male 5,344,146 /female 5,286,383)
 * 15–24 years: 18.61% (male 2,600,390 /female 2,629,660)
 * 25–54 years: 34.21% (male 4,663,234 /female 4,950,888)
 * 55–64 years: 5.05% (male 690,327 /female 727,957)
 * 65 years and over: 4.3% (male 557,155 /female 652,331) (2018 est.)

Population growth rate

 * 2.23% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th
 * 2.16% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 40th

Birth rate

 * 28.55 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * 30.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 35th
 * 16.03 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)

Death rate

 * 6.14 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 150th
 * 6.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 134th
 * 7.53 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)

Total fertility rate

 * 3.61 children born/woman (2023 est.) Country comparison to the world: 32nd
 * 3.66 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd
 * 3.96 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 34th
 * Fertility rate declined from 3.99 (2000) to 3.28 (2010) with 2.78 in Urban region and 3.94 in rural region.

Median age

 * total: 21.4 years. Country comparison to the world: 184th
 * male: 21 years
 * female: 21.9 years (2020 est.)


 * total: 21.2 years. Country comparison to the world: 185th
 * male: 20.7 years
 * female: 21.7 years (2018 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

 * 22.3 years (2017 est.)
 * note: median age at first birth among women 25–29

Contraceptive prevalence rate

 * 27.2% (2017/18)

Net migration rate

 * -0.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 107th
 * -1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 154th
 * -1.85 migrant(s)/1,020 population (2013 est.)

Infant mortality rate

 * 39.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.)

Dependency ratios

 * total dependency ratio: 73 (2015 est.)
 * youth dependency ratio: 67.1 (2015 est.)
 * elderly dependency ratio: 5.9 (2015 est.)
 * potential support ratio: 17.1 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

 * urban population: 58.6% of total population (2022)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.)


 * urban population: 56.1% of total population (2018)
 * rate of urbanization: 3.34% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

 * total population: 69.37 years. Country comparison to the world: 178th
 * male: 67.7 years
 * female: 71.09 years (2022 est.)


 * total population: 67.4 years (2018 est.)
 * male: 64.9 years (2018 est.)
 * female: 70 years (2018 est.)


 * total population: 65.46 years (2013 est.); 66 years
 * male: 64.48 years (2013 est.); 66 years
 * female: 66.48 years (2013 est.); 67 years (2013 est.)

Nationality
noun: Ghanaian

adjective: Ghanaian

Citizenship

 * Ghanaian citizens (20,000,000 million)
 * Ghanaian people

Languages

 * Asante 16%, Ewe 13%, Fante 11.6%, Dagbanli 10%, Bono (Brong) 4.9%, Dangme 4.2%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.9%, Likpakpaanl a.k.a. Konkomba language 3.5%, Akyem 3.2%, Ga 3.1%, Other 31.2%

Literacy
Definition: aged 15 and over can read and write
 * total population: 79%
 * male: 83.5%
 * female: 74.5% (2018)


 * total population: 76.6% (2015 est.)
 * male: 82% (2015 est.)
 * female: 71.4% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

 * total: 12 years
 * male: 12 years
 * female: 12 years (2020)


 * total population: 71.5%
 * male: 78.3%
 * female: 65.3% (2010 census)

Major infectious diseases

 * degree of risk: very high (2020)
 * food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
 * vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
 * water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
 * animal contact diseases: rabies
 * respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis


 * note: since October 2021, there has been a yellow fever outbreak in Ghana with numerous cases, including some deaths, in the following regions: Savannah, Upper West, Bono, and Oti; the CDC recommends travelers going to Ghana should receive vaccination against yellow fever at least 10 days before travel and should take steps to prevent mosquito bites while there; those never vaccinated against yellow fever should avoid travel to Nigeria during the outbreak; there are no medications to treat or cure yellow fever

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

 * total: 9.1%
 * male: 9.4%
 * female: 8.7% (2017 est.)

Population distribution
Population density increased steadily from 36 per square kilometer in 1970 to 52 per square kilometer in 1984. In 1990 63 persons per square kilometer was the estimate for Ghana's overall population density. These averages did not reflect variations in population distribution. For example, while the Northern Region, one of ten administrative regions, showed a density of seventeen persons per square kilometer in 1984, in the same year Greater Accra Region recorded nine times the national average of 52 per square kilometer.

As was the case in the 1960 and 1970 figures, the greatest concentration of population in 1984 was to the south of the Kwahu Plateau. The highest concentration of habitation continued to be within the Accra-Kumasi-Takoradi triangle, largely because of the economic productivity of the region. All of Ghana's mining centres, timber-producing deciduous forests, and cocoa-growing lands lie to the south of the Kwahu Plateau. The Accra-Kumasi-Takoradi triangle is linked to the coast by rail and road systems—making this area an important magnet for investment and labor.

A large part of the Volta Basin is sparsely populated. The far north is heavily populated. The population density of the Upper East Region is well above the national average. This may be explained in part by the better soil found in some areas.

Urban–rural disparities
Localities of 5,000 persons and above have been classified as urban since 1960. The 1960 urban population totalled 1,551,174 persons, or 23.1% of total population. By 1970, the urban percentage had increased to 28%. That percentage rose to 32% in 1984 and was estimated at 33% for 1992.

Urban areas in Ghana have customarily been supplied with more amenities than rural locations. Consequently, Kumasi, Accra, and many settlements within the southern economic belt attracted more people than the savanna regions of the north; only Tamale in the north has been an exception. The linkage of the national electricity grid to the northern areas of the country in the late 1980s may help to stabilize the north-to-south flow of internal migration. Ghana has a hugely rural population that is dependent on subsistence agriculture. Ghana has continued to be a nation of rural communities. Rural residency was estimated to be 67% of the population in 1992. In the 1970s, 72% of Ghana's population lived in rural areas. The "Rural Manifesto," which assessed the causes of rural underdevelopment, was introduced in April 1984. Development strategies were evaluated, and some were implemented to make rural residency more attractive. The Bank of Ghana established more than 120 rural banks to support rural entrepreneurs, and the rural electrification program was intensified in the late 1980s. The government presented its plans for district assemblies as a component of its strategy for rural improvement through decentralized administration.