Quality of Life in Ghana
Ghana is well endowed with natural resources and agriculture accounts for roughly one-third of GDP and employs more than half of the workforce, mainly small landholders. The services sector accounts for 40% of GDP. Gold and cocoa production and individual remittances are major sources of foreign exchange. Oil production at Ghana’s offshore Jubilee field began in mid-December, 2010, and is expected to boost economic growth. Estimated oil reserves have jumped to almost 700 million barrels. In 2009 Ghana signed a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF to improve macroeconomic stability, private sector competitiveness, human resource development, and good governance and civic responsibility. Sound macro-economic management along with high prices for gold and cocoa helped sustain GDP growth in 2008-10. However, the quality of life for many Ghanaians is still very low. Only 50% of the female population is literate and close to 95% of the rural population doesn’t have access to improved sanitation.
Specific Statistics
To outline the levels of poverty, here are several statistics about the country:
o Population below poverty line: 28.5% (2007 est.)
o Unemployment rate: 11% (2000 est.)
o Literacy (defined as age 15 and over can read and write):
- total population: 57.9%
- male: 66.4%
- female: 49.8% (2000 census)
o People living with HIV/AIDS: 260,000 (2009 est.)
o Sanitary facilitation access (unimproved):
- urban: 82% of population
- rural: 93% of population
- total: 87% of population (2008)
o Physicians density: 0.085 physicians/1,000 population (2009)
