Ghana Population

Quick facts about the population of Ghana

Current population (as of Monday, March 08, 2021)

31,618,468

Population rank

47 (0.40% of world population)

Total area

238,540 km2 (92,101 mi2)

Population density

132.5 per km2 (343.3 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

1.04 (16,086,201 men to 15,532,619 women)

Median age

20.4 years

Life expectancy

61.0 years (59.8 - men, 62.3 - women)

Literacy

76.6 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Ghana population 2021

During 2021 Ghana population is projected to increase by 752,743 people and reach 32,235,099 in the beginning of 2022. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 765,021. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 12,278 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Ghana to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2021

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Ghana population in 2021 will be the following:

• 2,886 live births average per day (120.25 in an hour)
• 790 deaths average per day (32.92 in an hour)
• -34 emigrants average per day (-1.40 in an hour)

The population of Ghana will be increasing by 2,062 persons daily in 2021.

Demographics of Ghana 2020

As of 1 January 2021, the population of Ghana was estimated to be 31,482,356 people. This is an increase of 2.39 % (735,165 people) compared to population of 30,747,191 the year before. In 2020 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 747,157. Due to external migration, the population declined by 11,991. The sex ratio of the total population was 1.036 (1,036 males per 1,000 females) which is higher than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2020.

Below are the key figures for Ghana population in 2020:

• 1,028,801 live births
• 281,644 deaths
• Natural increase: 747,157 people
• Net migration: -11,991 people
• 16,049,829 males as of 31 December 2020
• 15,432,527 females as of 31 December 2020

Ghana population density

Ghana population density is 132.0 people per square kilometer (341.8/mi²) as of March 2021. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Ghana divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Ghana. The total area of Ghana is 238,540 km² (92,101 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Ghana

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	23,682,233	74.9 %
Islam	4,995,718	15.8 %
Folk or traditional religions	1,549,305	4.9 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	1,327,976	4.2 %
Other	63,237	0.2 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Monday, March 08 2021).

Ghana age structure

As of the beginning of 2021 according to our estimates Ghana had the following population age distribution:

36.5

60

3.6

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 11,476,263 young people under 15 years old ( 5,801,254 males / 5,675,009 females)
• 18,885,636 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 9,442,188 males / 9,443,133 females)
• 1,120,457 persons above 64 years old ( 507,496 males / 612,647 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Ghana population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Ghana age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Ghana is 66.7 %.

What does this value mean? It shows that the dependent part of population is more than a half of the working part. It means that the working population (labor force) in Ghana must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons (this population is more than a half of working population). The value of more than 50% shows that the pressure on productive population in Ghana is relatively high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Ghana is 60.8 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Ghana is 5.9 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Ghana age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Ghana is 61 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 59.8 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 62.3 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 15,337,723 persons or 76.67% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Ghana are able to read and write. Accordingly about 4,667,741 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 82.04% (8,162,522 persons). 1,787,162 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 71.35% (7,175,201 persons). 2,880,579 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 91.32% and 89.86% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 90.6%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Ghana population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .