Ghana: People

Population

20,757,032
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 38% (male 3,988,800; female 3,904,989)
15-64 years: 58.3% (male 6,030,151; female 6,071,725)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 359,042; female 402,325) (2004 est.)

Median age

total: 20 years
male: 19.8 years
female: 20.3 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate

1.36% (2004 est.)

Birth rate

24.9 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate

10.67 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 52.22 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 49.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 55.1 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 56.27 years
male: 55.36 years
female: 57.22 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.17 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

3% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

360,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

28,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality

noun: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian

Ethnic groups

black African 98.5% (major tribes - Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%, Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998)

Religions

Christian 63%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 21%

Languages

English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
female: 67.1% (2003 est.)
male: 82.7%
total population: 74.8%

People - note

there are 9,500 Liberians, 2,000 Sierra Leoneans, and 1,000 Togolese refugees residing in Ghana (2002)