Ghana

Chapter 4

Social Development

Schooling, health insurance and adolescent health, housing and basic services, and protection from violence and child marriage.

Sources: EMIS, NHIA, GDHS, PHC 2010 and 2021
Latest: 2025 (NHIS); 2023/24 (education)

Primary NER

83.2%

2023/24

Net enrolment; 79.4% in 2022/23

JHS GER

95.5%

2023/24

Gross enrolment; 88.4% in 2022/23

Health insurance

66.2%

2025

Active NHIS membership

Housing deficit

1.81million units

2021Estimate

2.8 million in 2010

Electricity access

86.3%

2021 census

Households with access

Learning and opportunity

Getting children into primary school is no longer the main difficulty; keeping them in school afterwards is.

§4.1 · pp. 29–30

Learning at a glance

Latest figure for each indicator

2023/24 (enrolment and completion); 2020/21 (teachers)

Primary net enrolment
83.2%
2023/24
JHS gross enrolment
95.5%
2023/24
JHS completion
88.4%
2023/24
Pupils per trained teacher
32primary
2020/21
KG 34, JHS 16

Source: EMIS · Figures 4.1–4.3, pp. 29–30

View data· Published figures

Latest learning indicators
Indicator	Year	Value
Primary net enrolment rate (%)	2023/24	83.2
JHS gross enrolment rate (%)	2023/24	95.5
JHS completion rate (%)	2023/24	88.4
Pupils per trained teacher, primary	2020/21	32.0

School enrolment rates

Net enrolment rate (NER), KG, primary and JHS, %

2019/20–2023/24

KG
Primary
JHS

NER counts only pupils of the official age. JHS rose from a low of 44.3% (2021/22) to 59.3% (2023/24).

Source: EMIS 2019/20–2023/24 · Figure 4.1, p. 29 (levels as labelled in the figure legend)

View data· Published figures

Enrolment rates by level
School year	KG NER	Primary NER	JHS NER	KG GER	Primary GER	JHS GER
2019/20	71.4	80.3	45.8	111.0	98.3	83.2
2020/21	89.3	78.9	44.9	106.0	99.3	84.6
2021/22	85.2	79.0	44.3	123.4	107.4	88.0
2022/23	85.2	79.4	58.8	122.1	107.1	88.4
2023/24	78.0	83.2	59.3	115.5	103.6	95.5

Completion rates

Gross completion ratio, primary and JHS, %. Values above 100% are real: the ratio counts completers of any age.

2019/20–2023/24JHS 88.4%

Primary
JHS

An administrative ratio: pupils’ varying ages can push it above 100% (dashed line). JHS completion was 88.4% in 2023/24, down from 94.1% a year earlier.

Source: EMIS · Figure 4.2, p. 30

View data· Published figures

Completion rates
School year	Primary (%)	JHS (%)
2019/20	107.5	77.5
2020/21	108.6	83.1
2021/22	107.0	84.3
2022/23	101.5	94.1
2023/24	102.0	88.4

Pupil to trained teacher ratio

Pupils for each trained teacher, by level

2010/11–2020/21

KG
Primary
JHS

Lower is better. Compare levels separately; the ratios should not be added. KG fell from 96 to 34 pupils per trained teacher.

Source: EMIS · Figure 4.3, p. 30

View data· Published figures

Pupil to trained teacher ratio
School year	KG	Primary	JHS
2010/11	96	54	22
2011/12	85	52	20
2012/13	99	48	19
2013/14	62	46	18
2014/15	56	45	18
2015/16	52	43	18
2016/17	46	39	16
2017/18	39	35	16
2018/19	37	33	15
2019/20	31	28	13
2020/21	34	32	16

Health and well-being

Insurance coverage more than doubled since 2010; teenage motherhood remains far higher in rural areas.

§4.2 · pp. 31–33

Active NHIS membership

% of the population with active health insurance

2025

66.2%2025

About 2 in 3 people covered

+10.3 ppsince 2024; up from 30.0% in 2010

Active membership able to use services in the year, not everyone ever registered.

Source: National Health Insurance Authority; population denominator from GSS · Figure 4.4, p. 31

View data· Published figures

Active NHIS coverage, latest and earlier years
Year	Coverage (%)
2010	30.0
2024	55.9
2025	66.2

Health insurance coverage

Active NHIS members, % of population

2010–2025

Coverage peaked at 58.8% in 2015, fell to 48.3% in 2018, then rose 10.3 percentage points in 2025.

Source: National Health Insurance Authority; population denominator from GSS · Figure 4.4, p. 31

View data· Published figures

Active health insurance coverage
Year	Coverage (%)
2010	30.0
2011	43.1
2012	48.0
2013	52.3
2014	55.8
2015	58.8
2016	55.4
2017	50.4
2018	48.3
2019	52.0
2020	52.7
2021	54.4
2022	54.4
2023	55.3
2024	55.9
2025	66.2

Teenage motherhood

Girls aged 15–19 who already have a child, %

2008–2022

2022

12.8%National
17.2%Rural
9.1%Urban

Rural girls aged 15–19 are 1.9 times as likely as urban girls to have had a child (17.2% against 9.1%).

National
Rural
Urban

Survey years only (straight lines join them); values between surveys are not available.

Source: Figure 4.5, p. 32 (source line cites GDHS 2008, 2014 and 2022; the figure also plots 2011 and 2017)

View data· Published figures

Teenage motherhood by locality
Year	Rural (%)	National (%)	Urban (%)
2008	15.7	13.3	10.7
2011	17.7	12.3	7.1
2014	16.7	14.2	11.5
2017	18.3	14.3	10.0
2022	17.2	12.8	9.1

Living conditions

More homes and better basic services, with remaining gaps in electricity and sanitation.

§4.3 · pp. 34–35

Housing deficit

Estimated shortfall in dwelling units, million

2010 and 2021Estimate

2.8M2010

1.81M2021

−0.99 million (−35.4%)change in the estimated shortfall

Dwelling units, 2021

10.0million

Approximate; one in eight vacant

Housing requirement, 2021

11.81million units

Existing units plus the estimated shortfall

Households, 2021

8.3million

Average size 3.6 persons

The deficit is an estimate that depends on occupancy assumptions; it does not measure housing quality, vacancy or affordability. The 2010 figure is printed as about 2.8 million.

Source: GSS PHC 2010 and 2021 · Figure 4.8, p. 34

View data· Published figures

Housing indicators
Indicator	Value
Housing deficit, 2010 (million units, estimate)	2.8
Housing deficit, 2021 (million units, estimate)	1.81
Housing requirement, 2021 (million units)	11.81
Dwelling units, 2021 (million)	About 10.0
Households, 2021 (million)	8.3
Residential structures, 2010 to 2021 (million)	3.4 to 5.9 (+72.8%)
Vacant dwelling units, 2021	About one in eight

Access to electricity

% of households with access

2000–2021

43.8% per cent of households2000
65.1% per cent of households2010
86.3% per cent of households2021

About 9 in 10 households (2021)

About one household in seven still had no electricity in 2021.

Census years; values between censuses are not available.

Source: GSS PHC 2000, 2010 and 2021 · Figure 4.9, p. 35

View data· Published figures

Access to electricity
Year	% of households
2000	43.8
2010	65.1
2021	86.3

Improved drinking water

% of households using an improved source

2000–2021

60.7% per cent of households2000
86.0% per cent of households2010
92.0% per cent of households2021

About 9 in 10 households (2021)

More than nine in ten households used an improved source in 2021.

Source classification, not continuous supply or water quality.

Source: GSS PHC 2000, 2010 and 2021 · Figure 4.9, p. 35

View data· Published figures

Improved drinking water
Year	% of households
2000	60.7
2010	86.0
2021	92.0

Use of improved household toilet

% of households using an improved facility

2010–2022

44.8% per cent of households2010
69.0% per cent of households2022

About 7 in 10 households (2022)

Almost one household in three still lacked an improved toilet in 2022.

Note the different end year (2022) from the other utilities.

Source: GSS PHC 2010; survey data 2022 · Figure 4.9, p. 35

View data· Published figures

Use of improved household toilet
Year	% of households
2010	44.8
2022	69.0

Inclusion and protection

Reported violence and child marriage fell, but neither has ended.

§4.2.1, §4.4 · pp. 33, 36

Prevalence of gender-based violence

% reporting each form of violence

2016 and 2022

Sexual
201610.6%
20226.1%
Psychological
201648.0%
202225.5%

2016
2022

Sexual10.6% to 6.1% (-4.5 pp)
Psychological48.0% to 25.5% (-22.5 pp)

0%25%50%

Each form is measured separately; the shares overlap and must not be added. Psychological violence remained the most common form. The final edition reports sexual and psychological violence only (the draft also showed physical violence).

Source: Figure 4.10, p. 36

View data· Published figures

Gender-based violence prevalence
Form of violence	2016 (%)	2022 (%)	Change (percentage points)
Sexual	10.6	6.1	-4.5
Psychological	48.0	25.5	-22.5

Child marriage among girls

Census indicator, %

2010 and 2021

5.2%2010

2.1%2021

About 2 in 100 (2021), 3.1 percentage points lower than in 2010.

The practice declined between the censuses but has not ended.

Not the SDG measure (women aged 20–24 first married before 18). The regional breakdown is mapped below (Figure 4.7).

Source: GSS PHC 2010 and 2021 · Figure 4.6, p. 33

View data· Published figures

Child marriage, female
Census year	%
2010	5.2
2021	2.1

Child marriage by region

% of girls, census indicator

2021 census

Hover or focus on a region to read its value.

Child marriage among girls (%)

0.8%–1.1%
1.1%–1.2%
1.2%–1.9%
1.9%–4.9%
4.9%–7.5%

Regions ranked, highest first

1Northern7.5%
2North East6.8%
3Savannah5.7%
4Upper West4.9%
5Upper East3.8%
6Bono East1.9%
7Oti1.9%
8Ahafo1.4%
9Western North1.3%
10Western1.2%
11Ashanti1.2%
12Bono1.2%
13Greater Accra1.1%
14Volta1.0%
15Central0.9%
16Eastern0.8%

Added in the final edition. Every region fell between the censuses, but the five northern regions still recorded 3.8–7.5% in 2021, against 0.8–1.9% elsewhere. Values are read from the printed map labels. Bars are drawn on a 0–100% scale.

Source: GSS PHC 2010 and 2021 · Figure 4.7, p. 33

View data· Published figures

Child marriage among girls by region
Region	2010 (%)	2021 (%)	Change (percentage points)
Western	6.1	1.2	-4.9
Central	5.0	0.9	-4.1
Greater Accra	5.6	1.1	-4.5
Volta	5.0	1.0	-4.0
Eastern	4.2	0.8	-3.4
Ashanti	4.2	1.2	-3.0
Western North	6.1	1.3	-4.8
Ahafo	4.4	1.4	-3.0
Bono	3.6	1.2	-2.4
Bono East	3.8	1.9	-1.9
Oti	5.9	1.9	-4.0
Northern	8.7	7.5	-1.2
Savannah	6.6	5.7	-0.9
North East	8.3	6.8	-1.5
Upper East	4.9	3.8	-1.1
Upper West	7.5	4.9	-2.6