Population

24,652,402 (July 2012 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected

Age structure

0-14 years: 38.9% (male 4,815,972/female 4,773,335)
15-24 years: 18.9% (male 2,319,744/female 2,342,960)
25-54 years: 33.5% (male 4,012,678/female 4,248,399)
55-64 years: 4.6% (male 557,545/female 587,915)
65 years and over: 4% (male 463,962/female 529,892) (2012 est.)

Median age

Total: 21.7 years
male: 21.4 years
female: 21.9 years (2012 est.)

Population growth rate

2.2% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

32 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

7.7 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 51% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 3.4% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population

ACCRA (capital) 2.269 million; Kumasi 1.773 million (2009)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 40.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 45.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 36.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 61.45 years
male: 60.22 years
female: 62.73 years (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.15 children born/woman (2012 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

1.8% (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

260,000 (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

18,000 (2009 est.)

Sanitation facility access

improved:
urban: 18% of population
rural: 7% of population
total: 13% of population
unimproved:
urban: 82% of population
rural: 93% of population
total: 87% of population

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoan diarrhoea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vector borne diseases: malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies
note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Nationality

noun: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian

Ethnic groups

Akan 47.5%, Mole-Dagbon 16.6%, Ewe 13.9%, Ga-Dangme 7.4%, Gurma 5.7%, Guan 3.7%, Grusi 2.5%, Mande-Busanga 1.1%, other 1.6% (2010 census)

Religions

Christian 71.2% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 28.3%, Protestant 18.4%, Catholic 13.1%, other 11.4%), Muslim 17.6%, traditional 5.2%, other 0.8%, none 5.2% (2010 census)

Languages

Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other (includes English (official)) 36.1% (2000 census)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.5%
male: 78.3%
female: 65.3% (2010 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 10 years
male: 11 years
female: 10 years (2009)

Education expenditures

5.4% of GDP (2005)

Maternal mortality rate

350 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

14.3% (2008)

Health expenditures

10.6% of GDP (2009)

Physicians density

0.085 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

Hospital bed density

0.93 beds/1,000 population (2009)

Rank

Region

Population

1

Ashanti

3,612,950

2

Greater Accra

2,905,726

3

Eastern

2,106,696

4

Western

1,924,577

5

Northern

1,820,806

6

Brong-Ahafo

1,815,408

7

Volta

1,635,421

8

Central

1,593,823

9

Upper East

920,089

10

Upper West

576,583