Ghana population now 30.8m GSS

The de facto population in Ghana on Census Night was 30,792,608 made up of 15,610,149 females and 15,182,459 males.

This implies that the population has increased by 6.1 million from the 24.7 million recorded in 2010, constituting an annual intercensal growth rate of 2.1%. This rate is less than what was observed in the previous intercensal period (2000 – 2010: 2.5%) and is the lowest observed since independence. At this rate, the country ‘s population will double within 33 years. And by 2050, the population of Ghana would be over 50 million.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, females make up 50.7% of the population and males 49.3%, giving a national sex ratio of 97 males for every 100 females.

In all, 8,345,414 households were enumerated, with an average national household size of 3.6 persons.

The national population density in the 2021 PHC is 129 persons per square kilometre. Over 10.6 million structures were counted during the listing, out of which 8.5m representing 80.2% are fully completed i.e. roofed with windows and doors fixed.

The sex ratio of 97 males for 100 females in 2021 represented a slight increase over the sex ratio of 95 recorded in 2010. The 1960 census is the only post-independence census which recorded more males than females (102 males to 100 females).

Since then, sex ratios have declined until the uptick observed in 2021. Regional sex ratios in the 2021 PHC range from 91 males for every 100 females in the Volta Region to 105 males to every 100 females in the Western North Region, and these rates are consistent with the findings from the 2010 Census where the then Volta Region had the lowest sex ratio of 89 with the then Western Region recording the highest of 104.” 2021 PHC

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The total number of households has grown by 2.8 million (representing a 52% increase) over the 5,467,136 households enumerated in 2010. However, household size declined by 0.8, from 4.4 in the 2010 census. A similar decline of 0.9 was observed between the 2010 and 2000 censuses.

The population density at the national level increased by 26 persons per square kilometre over the 103 recorded in 2010.

The 2021 PHC is the first time that data was collected on all structures regardless of use. Previous censuses only collected information on structures used for residential purposes. The 2010 PHC recorded 3.4 structures for residential use, which is 2.5 million less the 5.9 counted in 2021.