Ghana’s population projected to reach more than 52 million in 2050

Ghana’s population has been growing, and some institutions, including universities have been looking at the projections and how that growth has implications for the country’s development and wellbeing of citizens.

The country’s population is projected to increase from the current 30.38 million to 52.47 million in 2050, an information document emailed to Ghana Business News by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said.

In 1960, three years after the country gained independence, it had a population of 6.72 million. By 2021, the population has increased to 30.38 million, and this has implications for development, education, health, jobs and the environment.

According to two publications that were reviewed, Ghana’s population is projected to increase from 30.83 million in 2021 to 37.24 million in 203o, and 52.47 million in 2050.

“Ghana’s projected total population in 2024 is 33,007,618, which is 1.07 times that of 2021 (30,832,019),” they said.

The publications are the 2021 Population and Housing Census Thematic Report on Population Projections (2021 – 2050) which presents 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.

The review and dissemination of the findings of the publications by the GSS and the University of Ghana Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) was aimed at discussing the policy implications of population projections and raise awareness of these existing statistics to promote their uptake for policy, research, and teaching.

The review found three main implications of Ghana’s national population projections: These are that 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.

Secondly, 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.

And thirdly, by 2050, 15 out of the 16 regions will have populations exceeding a million with six regions projected to remain predominantly rural, requiring renewed focus on urban planning and rural development while monitoring internal migration and local development.

The key findings also pointed to what to expect in the districts.

It found that the youth population is expected to increase in 247 out of the 261 districts while 14 districts will experience a decline in the youth population before 2050. It discovered that the school going age, and the working age population are expected to increase across all districts, in the elderly population, 77 out of the 261 districts are expected to record declines in the size of the elderly population before 2050 while others experience an increase.

The following are the concluding takeaways from the District Ranking of Micro-Level Development Indicators Report which presents district-level differences in development indicators using data from the 2010 and 2021 Population and Housing Censuses:

1. There are substantial disparities across districts which vary by development focus area and indicators.
2. When considering average ranking across all indicators, the Savannah Region is the worst-off region with four of its districts ranking in the bottom 10.
3. The North-South divide in development is still pervasive as 13 out of the 19 development indicators studied show an increase in the North-South divide between 2010 and 2021.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi

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