World Contraception Day

Today is World Contraception Day. The day is commemorated annually on 26th September to improve awareness of available contraceptive methods and empower young adults to make informed choices regarding their reproductive health.

More on population projections

We stated in our earlier post on population projections that they are conditional and based on assumptions. These assumptions form the basis of predictions of what changes will occur in the population size and structure. 

It is critical to involve multiple stakeholders and experts in the determination of these assumptions because it allows for:

•       A thorough assessment of existing trends.

•       Identification of potential changes (political, economic, health, legal etc.) that can impact population trends going forward

•       Knowledge of subgroup trends that are not yet obvious at the population level (e.g. antenatal coverage increasing in remote rural areas)          

International literacy day

Today is International Literacy Day. The day has been commemorated since 1966 to raise awareness of the benefits of literacy at the individual, national and global levels. This awareness is necessary as the UN estimates that 617 million youth worldwide do not have basic literacy skills with a quarter of the world's illiterate population living in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The theme for this year is Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. 

Almost two-third of migrant workers sampled travelled abroad without a valid work visa

The Ghana Statistical Service released findings from the 2019 recruitment cost pilot survey conducted in four districts in the Ashanti, Bono and Bono East regions that sampled households with return and current international migrants. The survey aimed to measure SDG Indicator 10.7.1 (Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of monthly income earned in country of destination) under SDG 10.7 which aims to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies. SDG 10 focuses on the reduction of inequality within and among countries.

The findings reveal the concerning statistic that only a third of migrant workers travelled abroad with a work visa; the others either went legally but without a work visa or through unapproved routes. The points to a need to implement policies to provide productive and profitable means to engage the working age population to discourage them from illegally migrating abroad. 

Half of Ghanaian households had to reduce food consumption due to covid-19

We continue to highlight the impact of the covid-19 pandemic in our series based on findings from the Ghana Statistical Service covid-19 household and jobs tracker survey.

Mobile money account ownership in Ghana

There has been a substantial increase in the amount of funds in mobile money accounts in Ghana between June last year and June this year. The increase in funds was from GH¢3 billion to GH¢4.5 billion while the number of active mobile money accounts increased from 12.9 million to 15.5 million. These changes have been attributed to the effect of the covid-19 pandemic.

We posted findings earlier from the covid-19 business tracker that showed businesses reporting using more digital technology in their businesses use.

The increase in the use of digital payments such as mobile money has us wondering about financial inclusion and the proportion of the population that has access to mobile money.

About 3 out of 10 Ghanaian children have not engaged in any learning activities since March

We discussed the implications of school closures on educational inequality in Ghana as not all children would be able to participate in virtual learning programmes because they did not have access to radio, TV, and/or internet.

The Ghana Statistical Service report from the first wave of their household and jobs survey confirms that a substantial proportion of children have not been able to engage in virtual learning since March.

3 out of 4 Ghanaian children who missed vaccinations did so due to covid-related reasons

During World Immunization Week 2020, the WHO called for actions to minimize disruptions to immunization programmes due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The Households and Jobs Tracker survey has confirmed that the pandemic has increased the risk of children who are due for vaccinations not getting the needed vaccine. The report indicated that 76.8% of children did not get vaccinated when they had to because of covid-19 related reasons.

Global breastfeeding scorecard

The Global Breastfeeding Collective, led by UNICEF and WHO, have developed a useful  scorecard that tracks progress towards 2030 global breastfeeding targets. The indicators in the scorecard assess programmes and policies for the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding.

Read more about the scorecard and explore the interactive dashboard here.

Ghanaian businesses reported an average 61% decline in sales since March

The Ghana Statistical Service has just released findings from their Business Tracker survey which presents some sobering statistics on the impact of the covid-19 restrictions on businesses and the labour force. 

The report estimates businesses lost GHS 115.2 million in sales since March. An estimated 770,124 had their wages reduced while an estimate 41,952 were laid off. The report also highlighted the limited access to the government's assistance for businesses with only 3.5% of firms receiving government assistance.

Greater Accra and Ashanti covid-19 case counts greater than most African countries

Greater Accra has more confirmed covid-19 cases  (18,882) than the other 15 regions combined (18,132).

If Greater Accra region were a country on its own in the WHO African region*, it would rank 6th out of 47 in case counts** after only South Africa (503,290), Nigeria (43,537), Ghana (35,501), Algeria (30,950) and Kenya (21,363).

Ashanti region (9,328), which has more cases than the other regions excluding Greater Accra combined (8,804), would rank 11th out of 47.

Revisting our July covid-19 projections

We made some projections on what the national covid-19 case count would be at the end of July. Now that July has ended, we compare the projected with the actual figures.

The initial projections were based on the daily increases in June. The projection ended at July 29th because the Ghana Health Service did not provide figures for June 30th. There are also no figures available for July 29th and so the comparison will be for July 28th.

World Breastfeeding Week

August 1st to 7th marks World Breastfeeding Week, a time to promote breastfeeding and raise awareness on the physical and emotional benefits of breastfeeding for child and maternal health. The week commemorates the 1990 Innocenti Declaration  signed by international development agencies and governments to enable women exclusively breastfeeding for the first 4-6 months of their child's life.

The theme for this year is “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), having near universal breastfeeding can save the lives of 800,000 children and 20,000 mothers every year. This is because breastfeeding is linked to lower risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease for mothers. For children, breastfeeding provides complete nutrition, protects against infections and illnesses and promotes early childhood development.

WHO guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding from the first hour of the child's life up till 6 months old. After 6 months, nutritious foods should complement breastfeeding up to 24 months or more.

Three-quarters of households in Ghana experienced a decline in income after mid-March

The Ghana Statistical Service has released findings from their households and jobs tracker survey, a nationally representative telephone-based longitudinal survey of 3,265 households across the country.

The survey found that covid-19 has had a substantial impact on household incomes with the results suggesting that over 22 million Ghanaians have seen their incomes fall since March. The findings also reveal that majority of respondents were understandably concerned about the impact of covid-19.

We will continue to explore the findings in further detail. In the meantime, read more in the household and job survey report here.

Global covid-19 death toll still climbing

644,832 deaths have been recorded with the trend indicating that number of deaths is still rising 7 months after the disease was declared a pandemic.

The world continues to grapple with covid-19 as global case count passes 16 million

United States (4.18 million), Brazil (2.39 million) and India (1.39 million) are leading the number of cases as of 26th July.

Ghana on the verge of passing 30,000 recorded covid-19 cases

4,442 new covid-19 cases were reported since our last update.  The national case count now stands at 29,672.

The cases recorded on the 19th includes samples taken as far back as 16th June. Daily testing numbers picked up from the previous week; 25,449 tests were carried out compared to 19,207 in the previous week. 

Greater Accra (1,837) and Ashanti (1,360) region combined to contribute 70% of new cases.

Number of new covid-19 increasing in Africa

South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria lead with the highest case counts.

According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control new cases reported this week increased by 21% compared to the previous week. In all, 736,288 cases have been reported in 54 African countries representing 5% of the global case count. Africa's share of global cases has increased from 2% since we last posted a global update in May.

15,418 deaths have been reported representing a case fatality rate of 2.1%.

World Youth Skills Day

July 15 is World Youth Skills Day. The day is meant to raise awareness on the importance of equipping young people with the skills for employment. 

The covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the skills development of youth all over the world. UNESCO estimates that almost 70% of the world's learners at all levels have been affected by school closures.

Testing numbers decline as case count climbs past 25,000

3,284 new cases recorded since our update last week leading to a total count of 25,252. This represents a decline from the 4,227 cases recorded in the previous week. However, we have to note that the number of test conducted in this 7 day period also declined from the number in the week prior to this one.

19,207 tests were conducted in the period 27th June to 4th July compared to 14,030 tests conducted in the period 5th July to 11th July; representing a 27% decline in cases tested.

Today is World Population Day

July 11th is World Population Day, a day to highlight important population issues. The first World Population Day was commemorated 31 years ago in 1989.

The theme for this year is "Putting the brakes on COVID-19: how to safeguard the health and rights of women and girls now"

Research from UNFPA projects that the pandemic will have devastating effects on the well-being of females from increased risk of domestic violence and maternal death, reduced access to family planning and greater likelihood of child marriages.

Read more on the harmful practices for girls here and in the State of the World Population 2020 report.

What are population projections?

Population projections are generally an estimate of what the population will look like in future. 

More specifically, projections are an educated guess of the population size and structure based on assumptions about future population trends and analyses of current and historical trends. Population projections are conditional and the resulting figures are dependent on the underlying assumptions.

Ghana approaching 22,000 cases as daily infections continue to rise

Ghana's case count continues to rise amidst the easing of restrictions. 4,227 new cases were recorded in the past week since our last update which is about one and a half times the new cases reported in the previous week. The current count stands at 21,968 confirmed cases.

All regions reported new cases. Greater Accra (2,229) and Ashanti (1,012) contributed three-quarter of the new cases.

Total Fertility Rates

The standard measure of fertility is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR).

Total Fertility Rate is the number of children than a woman has. TFR ranges from 1 in South Korea to 6.9 in Niger (2018 World Bank est.) with the top 25 highest fertility countries in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly from West and Central Africa.

Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility required for each generation to replace itself. Normally, 2 people would need to have 2 children to replace themselves. However at the population level the replacement TFR would have to be greater than 2 to account for the loss of children who will die before reaching adulthood. Replacement level TFR is thus considered to be 2.1 (in high mortality settings however, replacement level fertility would have to be higher because a greater proportion of children die in childhood).

Basic fertility concepts

Fertility, one of the population processes is defined as the number of children born to a woman. 

What is known as fertility (i.e. the physical ability to have children) in conventional language is referred to as fecundity by demographers.

Fertility is determined by two main factors - biological and behavioural. The behavioural factors exert a greater influence on fertility than the social factors. 

Greater Accra approaches 10,000 cases as national count reaches 17,741

2,734 new covid-19 cases have been recorded in Ghana since our update last week. Ashanti passed 3,000 cases with Western North and Ashanti moving into triple digit number of cases.

Greater Accra contributed 43% of the new cases (1,167), followed by Ashanti with 26% of new cases (700). Western Region (343) and Eastern (216) contributed 13% and 8% respectively.

How to measure population change

Today we continue our introduction to basic population concepts by reviewing how to measure population change.

Population change over time can be measured in the following ways:

• Natural increase = (Live Births) – (Deaths)
• Net migration = (Immigration) – (Emigration)
• Population growth = (Natural increase) + (Net migration)

All the indicators of population change can be:

• Positive (population size is increasing)
• Zero (population size is not changing)
• Negative (population size is declining)

What are population processes?

World Population Day is on July 11th so we will spend the lead up to the day highlighting some basic concepts in the field of population. 

Today we start with population processes.

Population processes are the three factors that lead to changes in the size and composition of the population. These are fertility, mortality, and migration. 

Western Region passes 1,000 cases and national count passes 15,000

2,820 new cases of covid-19 have been confirmed in Ghana since our update last week bringing the total to 15,013 cases. A little over half of the new case (1521) were in Greater Accra and almost a quarter were from Ashanti (640).

Sources of population and health data

We utilize a number of publicly available data sources on this blog and today we highlight those sources to encourage data utilization. Data is important because it can be used to generate evidence to make informed decisions, to help solve problems, to plan and make predictions, provide support of arguments etc.


Most international development agencies have databases with a variety of indicators that do not require any statistical analysis and can be used by anyone. These include demographic data from the U.N; health data from the WHO; development data from the World Bank; labour force data from the ILO; and education data from UNESCO.

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) collect a wealth of demographic and health information and conduct repeated  surveys in countries which allows for looking at time trends. These surveys produce detailed reports that present a considerable amount of data.

Over 2,000 covid-19 cases recorded in Ghana in the past week

Greater Accra contributed about a third of new cases, the highest percent as usual but the region's contribution to new cases has been declining - more than half of new cases were from Greater Accra a month ago. Ashanti contributed about a quarter of new cases with Western, Central and Upper East contributing about a tenth each. 

Upper East's numbers have increased substantially since our update last week - from 42 to 241 cases

Standardized covid-19 case counts for regions in Ghana

We discussed in our earlier post that differences in population size can make it difficult to compare absolute numbers across different populations. Today we present standardized covid-19 case counts by region for Ghana to compare the severity of the outbreak by region.

Almost 10,000 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Ghana

1,840 new cases were reported in the past week since our last update to bring the confirmed case count to 9,910. This is a significant increase from the previous week's increase  of 1,106 (+734) and the increase of 896 (+944) in the week before that.

95% of new cases came from the Greater Accra (65%), Ashanti (17%), Western (8%) and Central (5%) regions.

Why do we need standardized statistics?

Let's look at data on deaths from the WHO covid-19 dashboard for 31st May 2020. The WHO dashboard has two options for statistics - total numbers which is shown in the left column and numbers per 1,000,000 population shown in the right column.

Five out of the ten countries in the column on the left column do not appear in the right column. The United States, the country with the most deaths overall, did not make it to the top 10 in deaths per 1,000,000 population. It is ranked 12 with 307 deaths per 1,000,000 population. Rather, San Marino which has recorded 42 deaths in total is leading the list of countries with deaths per 1 million population. 

This illustrates why it is important to also standardize absolute numbers when reporting statistics. While the total death toll numbers are informative by themselves, standardized figures allow us to compare the impact on the population across different countries better than absolute numbers.

Ghana passes 8,000 cases; Greater Accra passes 5,000

1,106 new cases have been confirmed in Ghana since our last update bringing the case count to 8,070. That is an increase compared to the previous week's increase of 896 (+210). Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western regions make up 96% of the new cases (1061). Almost two-thirds of the new cases were in Greater Accra (708).

No tobacco day

Today is World No Tobacco Day which is meant to draw attention to the negative effects of tobacco use on health and mortality risk. Tobacco use significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and certain types of cancer. WHO has also stated that smoking is linked to increased severity of covid-19 symptoms.

More than 5 million covid-19 cases confirmed worldwide

Our covid-19 coverage so far has focused on Ghana so today we look at that is happening around the world.

5,819,962 cases of covid-19 have been confirmed worldwide. 

The United States has the largest outbreak with 1,716,078 confirmed cases, followed by Brazil with 438,238 and Russia with 387,623 cases. United Kingdom and Spain round out the top 5 with 269,131 and 238,278 cases respectively.

The global death toll is devastating with 362,786 deaths reported (a case fatality rate of 6.23%). The U.S. leads by a wide margin with 101,567 deaths followed by the U.K. with 37,837 deaths then Italy with 33,142. Spain  and France round out the top 5 with 29,037 and 28,608 reported deaths respectively. 

Covid-19 and mental health

In addition to the impact on physical, research from the U.S is showing that the pandemic is taking a toll on mental health as well. One-third of Americans showed clinically significant signs of clinical anxiety or depression. with poorer adults, younger people and females more likely to exhibit those signs. 

The mental health impact of the virus is clearly felt even by those who have not contracted the virus. Myriad factors as social isolation caused lockdowns, worry about finances due to job insecurity or loss, fear of falling sick, concern about the health of loved ones with the virus, grief from loss of loved ones, the stress of working from home and providing childcare simultaneously are causes. Most individuals are dealing with multiple issues at once. 

Unfortunately, social support which can be a coping mechanism has been affected by social distancing and lockdowns restricting movement. 

The mental impact of the health will be much larger than the impact of physical health and policies to address mental health should be developed implemented alongside the policies to prevent and treat covid-19. 

Savannah records first covid-19 case and Ashanti passes 1,000 cases

896 new cases have been confirmed in the past week leading to total case count of 6,964. Slightly less (-73) than the 969 new cases recorded in the week prior to this past one.

We noted last week that Western region had overtaken Eastern region's case count. Western region's case count tripled in the past week (from 111 to 334) moving it into the top 3 and surpassing confirmed cases in Central region.

Interpreting covid-19 statistics

Reporting on covid-19 typically tends to include a variety of statistics. Beyond the number of cases, there are infection rates, case fatality rates etc. Today we explain what some of those numbers and statistics mean.

Confirmed covid-19 cases in Ghana rise to 6,096

969 new cases have been confirmed in the week since our last update. Greater Accra contributed more than half of those cases (555), Ashanti Region contributed almost a quarter (226) and Central Region about a tenth (102). 

Today is World Hypertension Day

World Hypertension Day is commemorated to raise awareness of hypertension (high blood).

Hypertension which is caused by unhealthy diets and physical inactivity is linked to increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease. Emerging research also links hypertension to increased risk of Covid-19 severity and mortality.

Ghana Health Service yesterday released some information on the Covid-19 fatalities revealing that for 20 out of the 28 deaths recorded, hypertension was listed as an underlying condition.

International Day of Families

Today is International Day of Families so we are presenting some family characteristics in Ghana over the past two decades using statistics from from five Demographic and Health Surveys (1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2014).

2020 census likely postponed due to Covid-19

The Government Statistician just announced that timelines for the census may have to be adjusted in response to the pandemic.

Current restrictions on social gatherings and the recommendations to limit movement understandably have implications for census activities as thousands of enumerators need to be trained and deployed.

More than 5000 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Ghana

Ghana's case count have risen to 5,127 since our last post.  Greater Accra's share of cases has decreased slightly as Ashanti region's cases more than doubled in the past few days.

Covid-19 cases continue to rise and spread across the country.

Ghana case count rose to 4,012 cases today and Bono Region also recorded its first case yesterday. Ahafo, Bono East and Savannah remain the only regions with no reported cases. Today we map the regional breakdown of cases in Ghana and when cases were first recorded in different parts of the country.

CeDHA round-table discussion on covid-19 in Ghana

CeDHA fellows share their views on the pandemic in Ghana. Read the discussion here.

Labour Day and COVID-19

As the world commemorates Labour Day today, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the informal segments of the economy.

More on malaria in Ghana

We continue to shine a spotlight on malaria. It is the leading cause of morbidity in Ghana and  malaria prevention efforts must continue despite the current global crises. On World Malaria Day, the WHO urged sub-Saharan African countries to minimize disruptions to malaria prevention and treatment programmes. 

Today we look at some additional statistics on malaria from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Facts and Figures 2018 report.

First quarter malaria statistics

The Ghana Health Service provided some sobering 2020 first quarter numbers on malaria morbidity and mortality in Ghana highlighting again the importance of malaria prevention and treatment efforts.

According to the statistics: 1,000,000 people tested positive for malaria in the first quarter out of which 21,201 were children under five years and 28,764 were pregnant women. At least 54 deaths from malaria have been recorded with 16 of the deaths among children under five years.

World Immunization Week cont'd

We earlier highlighted the progress made in immunization in Ghana and the inequalities that persist. Today we look at immunization rates for specific vaccines - BCG (tuberculosis), DPT (diphtheria, pertussis/whooping cough and tetanus), polio and measles.

World Day for Safety and Health at Work

Today, as we commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work we applaud frontline health staff all over the globe and others contributing to the fight against covid-19 such as scientists, contact tracers, inventors, policy-makers etc. We also commend other essential staff in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, finance, security, media and food supply who continue to deliver services despite the risks.

World Immunization Week

We are in the middle of World Immunization Week which is from 24th to 30th April this year.

As the world waits for a vaccine to the Covid-19, it is important to remember the many infectious diseases for which we have vaccines that save millions of lives every year.

World Malaria Day

As the world commemorates World Malaria Day in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, malaria which continues to be a leading cause of morbidity in the region. Malaria is included as one of the sub-targets under SDG 3: 3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.

CeDHA fellow Dr. Ayaga Bawah co-authored an important paper looking at the impact of malaria on life expectancy: How many years of life could be saved if malaria were eliminated from a hyperendemic area of northern Ghana? Today he shares some thoughts on the implications of that research here.

Covid-19 lockdown and educational inequality

The three-week lockdown in parts of the country has ended but all schools in the country are to continue to remain closed.

The Ministry of Education requests that students "Tune in to the Ghana Broadcasting Free to air Learning Channel GLTV (also on GoTV and DSTV), log in to www.iCampusGh.com (SHS students only) and use the Ghana Library Authority app to access various lessons, assessments and books‬."

This mode of service delivery raises the question, how many children will be able to access the educational material on television or online?

Covid-19 timeline for Ghana

A month after the first cases were reported in Ghana, we have put together a timeline highlighting the measures put in place to manage the pandemic..

Tracking the price of an orange

One of the issues about lockdown has been concerns about the rising costs of food items and other commodities particularly in community markets. On World Health Day we discussed some of the contextual challenges in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic. Today we track the price of an orange (which is a good source of Vitamin C that people are using to boost their immunity).

Today is World Health Day

The world marks World Health Day 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic takes a toll on populations all over the globe. The WHO guidelines highlight frequent hand washing and maintaining social distance as key strategies in the fight against the pandemic.  

Today's infographic uses data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 7 conducted in 2017 to examine the socio-demographic factors that can make fighting coronavirus challenging in this context.

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day - a day to shine a spotlight on gender inequality.

The recent Afrobarometer press release indicated that women in Ghana continue to lag behind males in a number of areas - financial decision-making, political interest and participation, ownership of key assets and education. We have commented earlier on some of the gender differences in science in Ghana.

The U.N provides the sobering information that not a single country has achieved gender equality out of a 129 studied and additionally none are on track to meet the gender-based Sustainable Development Goal indicators.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 which seeks achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls is the main SDG on gender. Today we present three SDG5 indicators for Ghana using available data from the 2017/2018 Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey (MICS).

PHC 2020: You count, Get counted

District Census Implementation Committees (DCIC) are being inaugurated all over the country. One of the features of the 2020 PHC is the decentralization of operations to the district level. Each district in the country is to have a DCIC to oversee the conduct of the census within their district. The committee's responsibilities include sensitization and raising awareness on the census, recruitment of enumerators from the district, facilitation of conflict resolution and acquisition of office space for coordination of district census activities etc. The main purpose of the DCIC is to ensure that the census exercise is carried out successfully and all persons who spend census night in their district are enumerated.

Today we outline why it is important that everyone be enumerated in a census in our PHC 2020 series.

Our countdown to the 2020 census continues...

We are counting down to Ghana's 2020 Population and Housing Census by reflecting on the importance of this exercise. 

According to the United Nations, “The population and housing census is part of an integrated national statistical system, which may include other censuses (for example, agriculture), surveys, registers and administrative files. It provides, at regular intervals, the benchmark for population count at national and local levels. For small geographical areas or sub-populations, it may represent the only source of information for certain social, demographic and economic characteristics. For many countries the census also provides a solid framework to develop sampling frames.”

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science

It's also that time of the year in Ghana where the annual National Science and Math Quiz (NSMQ) excitement begins to build across the country. A look at the winner's list indicates that no girls school has ever won the competition in its 25 year history. A mixed-sex school has won twice in 1998 and 2004; all other winners have been all boys schools.

Girls tend to lag behind boys in science, globally and not just in Ghana. Females lag behind males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields - both in school and in the labour force. Females are more likely to enrolled in STEM educational programmes or working in STEM jobs.

Census Night is 28th June 2020

The Ghana Statistical Service has announced that Census Night is 28th June.

What is census night? The second in our series of census-related info-graphics tells us about the census and the different activities that make up the census exercise.

Ghana's 2020 Population and Housing Census

Ghana is preparing for the 2020 Population and Housing Census (2020 PHC). The information that will be collected from the census will produce a wealth of data on the Ghanaian population including:

• Population size
• Population structure
• Spatial distribution of the population
• Socioeconomic status of the population
• Living conditions of the population

Our latest info-graphic is the first in a series that will highlight the importance of censuses and what to expect from the upcoming Population and Housing census in Ghana.

Wealth inequality in literacy rates

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Social Inclusion (UNDESA) recently launched the World Social Report 2020. The report finds that 70% of the world's population are living in countries where the wealth inequality is increasing.

Today is International Day of Education

Education is considered a human right and every child has the right to have basic education.

Investing in education is critical for countries because education investments yield enormous individual and societal rewards. In the areas of population and health, education, particularly of women leads to later age at marriage and first birth, higher use of family planning, better maternal and child health, greater survival of children and higher life expectancy.   

Also of importance is the need for countries need to invest in quality education because that is what leads to learning and skills development.

Learning-adjusted years of schooling

In honour of International Day of Education tomorrow, we will look further at the educational component of the Human Capital Index discussed earlier. 

Demographic dividends

A demographic dividend is the economic benefit that countries can gain from changes in population structure. Harnessing demographic dividends are not automatic – countries need to put certain measures in place in order to reap the benefits of the changing age structure.

What is a population pyramid?

A population pyramid is a graph that tells us about the number of people in the population and information on how many people are in each age group and how many belong to each sex (also known as age/sex structure).