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%.

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:

Fertility and births (Census 2000 and 2010)

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. The following demographics are from the independent Ghana Statistical Service and from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

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

Population growth rate

Birth rate

Death rate

Total fertility rate

Median age

Mother's mean age at first birth

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Net migration rate

Infant mortality rate

Dependency ratios

Urbanization

Life expectancy at birth

Nationality

noun: Ghanaian adjective: Ghanaian

Citizenship

Languages

Literacy

Definition: aged 15 and over can read and write

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

Major infectious diseases

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

Demographic history

Historical population

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.