Ghana’s unemployment rate eased to 13.6% by the end of 2024, down from 14.6% in 2023, reflecting a modest one-percentage point improvement.
The figures are contained in the latest Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (Fourth Quarter Labour Statistics 2024) released by the Ghana Statistical Service.
The data reveals that the challenge remains most pronounced among the youth, with 22.5% of Ghanaians aged 15 to 35 currently unemployed underscoring persistent pressures on first-time jobseekers and graduates despite the broader gains in employment.
In the 4th quarter of 2024, the data paints a mixed but instructive picture: total employment rose to 12.73 million an increase of 1.15 million year-on-year while the number of unemployed persons also climbed by roughly 200,000 compared with the 4th quarter of 2023, signaling rapid labour-force growth that outpaced absorption.
This combination suggests expanding opportunity but continued weaknesses in job quality and the economy’s ability to absorb new entrants quickly.
Gender dynamics in the 4th quarter are notable as female employment has consistently exceeded male employment through 2024’s 4th quarter, and the employment gap widened from about 632,000 in the 1st quarter of 2022 to roughly 1.12 million in the 4th quarter of 2024 a sign that female labour participation and job creation for women have been strong in absolute terms.
At the same time, the survey highlights persistent disparities in unemployment and underemployment measured by gender and locality, which point to uneven job quality and differing access to stable, formal work.
The GSS also flags high levels of NEET (youth not in employment, education or training) across age cohorts, calling out NEET as a major contributor to youth exclusion and long-term labour underutilization.
