Statistician and Senior Statistics Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Louis Asiedu says preliminary results published by the Ghana Statistical Service on the 2021 Population and Housing Census indicates Ghana’s growth rate is declining.
Citing the total number of Ghanaians captured at the end of the census, he noted that the provisional data shows that the country’s population as at now is 30.8 million. “Comparing this number to the 2010 census, one will say that we have increased in number a bit, but our growth rate is declining and it is drastic.”
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According to him, the US Population Department and the United Nations Statistical Division have all projected Ghana’s population over 31million as at yesterday and hopes a post enumeration exercise will correct all anomalies and up the preliminary results.
He explained that growth rate is the difference between birth and death rates in a particular area or country over time “and declining growth rate means the population will suffer extinction over time.”
In an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show, Dr. Louis Asiedu added that Ghana’s low growth rate means “a lot of people are dying over the number of new births recorded and if that goes on, we can suffer extinction over time. If the number of deaths keep going up, that will stall the country’s growth.”
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He believes working with the actual results of the census may prove his theory otherwise. “It is an early day yet to conclude on this theory of possible extinction because these are preliminary figures. Let’s wait for the post enumeration data.”
The statistician added that census should not be based on estimation but actual realities. “So if not all Ghanaians were captured, then it is worrying but hopefully the post enumeration exercise can correct some of these.”
Explaining factors affecting a region’s growth rate, he cited economic conditions as a major factor. “If the economic conditions are harsh, then people will give birth to fewer children and appreciate smaller family sizes. The older folks will also suffer health complications because they do not have the means to receive proper medical care and the death rates will be high.”
Background
The Ghana Statistical Service says the current population of Ghana is 30.8 million people. This is the provisional figure released after the census which was conducted in June 2021.
Based on the current figures, the population of Ghana has increased by 6.1 million people since the last population census in 2010 which record 24.7 million.
This represents a 2.1% growth rate, the slowest rate since independence according to Ghana Statistical Service.
Based on provisional results released by the GSS, Ghana has 400,000 more women than men. The total number of women in Ghana is 15.6 million whilst the total number of men is 15.2 million.
Based on these numbers, the percentage distribution is 50.7% females whereas the male population is 49.3%.
