Ghana Adds 500,000 To 700,000 People To Its Population Annually – Statistician

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

Ghana’s population is increasing by an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 people annually, with the country’s total population currently standing at approximately 33.7 million, Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu has disclosed.

He said Ghana’s annual population growth rate currently stands at 2.1 per cent, a trend that could see the population double in about 33 years if sustained.

In an interview, Dr Iddrisu said the annual increase reflects the number of people being added to the country’s population.

Dr Iddrisu explained that the growth rate has slowed over the years. At a growth rate of 2.7 per cent, recorded between 1984 and 2000, the population would have doubled in approximately 26 years, while a rate of 2.5 per cent, recorded between 2000 and 2010, would have resulted in a doubling period of about 28 years.

The current rate of 2.1 per cent was recorded between 2010 and 2021, according to the Ghana Statistical Service’s new flagship publication, Ghana in Numbers.

The publication puts the 2025 population at 33.7 million, up from the 30.8 million counted in the 2021 Population and Housing Census.

The 2021 census also showed that 56.7 per cent of Ghanaians lived in urban areas, while 43 per cent resided in rural communities.

Dr Iddrisu said the slowing growth rate gives Ghana more time to plan for infrastructure, jobs, education, health and housing, but the sheer numbers being added each year still demand urgent investment in services to meet the needs of a fast-growing population.