Six of Ghana’s poorest districts are all located in the North East Region, according to the latest district-level poverty estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service.

The report, published by adomonline.com on May 18, 2026, shows that Nassuam District sits at the bottom of the national ranking, with 51.6 per cent of its population living in poverty in 2025. Four other districts in the North East Region follow closely, making the region the most deprived in the country.

At the other end of the scale, Ayawaso North Municipal in Greater Accra recorded a poverty rate of just 5.5 per cent — a stark contrast that highlights the wide gap between north and south.

“The numbers do not lie: a child born in Nassuam faces a fundamentally different life from one born in Ayawaso North,” the report noted.

The GSS described the study as “the most comprehensive district-level poverty analysis ever conducted in Ghana.”

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The estimates were produced using small area estimation methods, drawing on data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, household income and expenditure surveys between 2022 and 2024, and the 2025 Labour Force Survey. Deprivation was measured across 13 wellbeing indicators.

Despite the grim findings, the report points to progress nationwide. Between 2021 and 2025, 250 of Ghana’s 261 districts recorded reductions in multidimensional poverty, with parts of the Upper West and Ashanti regions posting sharp declines.

However, the GSS said progress has been uneven. Poverty remains heavily entrenched across the North East, Northern, Savannah, Oti, Upper East, Upper West, and Bono East regions — a belt of deprivation that has resisted decades of development interventions.

The Service is now calling for urgent and targeted action, including tighter oversight of development spending, sustained policy interventions, and deliberate social investment to ensure growth reaches every district.

NAD/BAI

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