Ghana’s annual population growth rate has declined to 2.1 per cent, extending the period required for the country’s population to double to approximately 33 years, Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu has disclosed.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, Dr Iddrisu said the current growth rate was lower than those recorded in previous years, resulting in a slower pace of population expansion.
He explained that Ghana’s population, currently estimated at 33.7 million, would take about 33 years to double if the annual growth rate remained at 2.1 per cent.
“When you do the mathematics, you will see that we are now looking at an annual population growth rate of 2.1 per cent. But it used to be higher. And so, because we are now looking at a 2.1 per cent growth rate, it will take about 33 years for the population to double,” he said.
Dr Iddrisu noted that a higher growth rate would significantly reduce the time required for the population to double.
He said a growth rate of 2.7 per cent would result in the population doubling in approximately 26 years, while a rate of 2.5 per cent would extend the period to about 28 years.
The Government Statistician also revealed that Ghana’s population continues to increase by an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 people annually.
“As we speak now, Ghana is home to about 33.7 million people, and the estimates show that every year, we add on about 500,000 to 700,000 people every year,” he stated.
Urban population continues to rise
Dr Iddrisu further highlighted Ghana’s changing settlement patterns, pointing to a significant increase in the proportion of the population living in urban areas over the decades.
According to him, urban residents accounted for 32 per cent of Ghana’s population in 1984, while 68 per cent lived in rural communities.
By 2000, the urban population had increased to 43 per cent, before surpassing the rural population in 2010, when urban residents represented 50.9 per cent of the total population.
Data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census further showed that 56.7 per cent of Ghanaians lived in urban areas, compared with 43 per cent in rural communities.
The figures highlight the country’s continued urbanisation, alongside a gradual slowdown in its overall population growth rate.
