The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has emphasized the importance of investing in youth skills and employment.
At an event co-organized with the University of Ghana’s Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), GSS highlighted the need to intensify efforts to harness the demographic dividend, noting that a third of the population will be aged 15 to 35 years over the next three decades.
The Service projected that by 2050, one in every 10 persons in Ghana will be aged 60 years or older, stressing the need for increased focus on savings for retirement, pensions, and social security.
The event featured key findings from two recently released publications: the 2021 Population and Housing Census Thematic Report on Population Projections (2021-2050), which provides population projections disaggregated by sex, age, and type of locality to support informed decision-making, and the 2024 revision of the World Population Prospects, a flagship report published by the UN Population Division to provide population data for planning.
According to GSS, 15 out of the 16 regions will have populations exceeding one million, with six regions projected to remain predominantly rural by 2050. This requires a renewed focus on urban planning, rural development, and monitoring internal migration and local development.
“At least a third of the population will be aged 15 to 35 years over the next three decades which highlights the importance of investments in youth skills and employment and intensifying efforts to harness the demographic dividend. By 2050, one in every 10 persons in Ghana will be aged 60 years or older indicating that there needs to be increased focus on savings for retirement, pensions, and social security.
“By 2050, 15 out of the 16 regions will have populations exceeding a million with six regions projected to remain predominantly rural. This requires a renewed focus on urban planning and rural development while monitoring internal migration and local development.”
Key findings from the district projections reveal that the youth population is projected to increase in 247 out of 261 districts, while 14 districts will experience a decline in the youth population by 2050.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the population of school-going-age and working-age individuals is expected to rise across all districts.
