In 2025, Ghana registered a crime index of 45.35. The index measures the level of crime in a given country or city. This means that, at the said date, crime in Ghana was considered as being on a moderate level. In 2019, the level of crime in the country registered a peak of nearly 52 points. Furthermore, in 2024, it was lowest at almost 44 points. Person traffickingThe year 2021 recorded a total of 821 detected cases of people trafficking in Ghana, which was a noticeable increase compared to 2020, when such events reached 508 in number. According to latest data available, West Africa is the region with the most detected victims of people trafficking in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria being in the lead. As a result of the reported number of victims in Ghana, people prosecuted for offenses in person trafficking in the country reached 13 each in 2020 and 2021.Crime against womenFemale Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the criminal offenses in Ghana that involves women and girls, despite being constitutionally abolished. It is carried out on both minors and adults. In 2018, 63.6 percent of 14,374 surveyed women had had flesh in the genital area removed as a procedure of FGM. As of the same year, 7.3 percent of the same count of women were given into marriage before age 15, to the negligence of child marriage challenges such as teenage pregnancy and poverty. Another type of crime involving women is domestic violence. Overall, in 2018, 16.5 percent of male respondents, and 32.4 percent of surveyed women in Ghana reported that domestic violence was justified if, for instance, a woman burned food, argued with her husband, or neglected the children at home.

As of 2025, Accra, Ghana's capital, registered a crime index of 45.18. This meant that, at the said date, crime in the city was considered as being on a moderate level. Compared to 2015, when the level of crime in the country peaked, the index decreased by approximately eight percent. Overall, at the national level, Ghana achieved a crime index score of 45.35. The index measures the level of crime in a given country or city based on surveys from visitors of the source's website.

Historical chart and dataset showing Ghana crime rate per 100K population by year from 2001 to 2021.

As of April 15, 2025, 31 new violent attacks against civilians were recorded in Ghana. Over the period observed, the highest level of civilian violence in the country was reached in 2024, with 78 attacks, while the lowest was in 2017, with 19 attacks.

From January to June 2022, 180 overall unique cases of crime in Ghana were reported. In that period, crime in the country was highest in January and May, which registered 41 and 40 cases, respectively. On the other hand, crime levels were lowest in March, with 21 cases.

Ghana: Violent crimes per 100,000 people: The latest value from is crimes per 100,000 people, unavailable from crimes per 100,000 people in . In comparison, the world average is 0.00 crimes per 100,000 people, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for Ghana from to is crimes per 100,000 people. The minimum value, crimes per 100,000 people, was reached in while the maximum of crimes per 100,000 people was recorded in .

A total number of 180 violent crime cases were reported in Ghana between January and June 2022. In that period, violent crimes in the country were highest in January and March, which registered 39 and 38 cases, respectively. On the other hand, violent crime levels were lowest in April, with 31 cases.

The rate of homicide in Ghana stood at 1.84 cases per 100,000 individuals as of 2021. Compared to 2012, which registered the highest rate in the examined period, it decreased by approximately 0.25 points. Over the period observed, incidences of homicide in the country fluctuated and were lowest in 2010 and 2011.

Abstract

The 2009 Crime Victimization Survey in Ghana was carried out in four Metropolitan Assemblies of the country. They are Sekondi-Takoradi, Accra, Kumasi and Tamale Metropolitan Assemblies. It is the first of its kind to be conducted in the country. It is a pilot study designed to facilitate a broader understanding of crime and its burden on the citizenry.

Geographic coverage

Four Metropolitan Assemblies

• Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly,
• Accra Metropolitan Assembly,
• Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, and
• Tamale Metropolitan Assembly.

Analysis unit

Metropolitan area, individual

Universe

The survey covered all usual household members in the coverage area (both males and females), aged 16 years and older.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The population in individual households that dwell in living quarters in each of the four Metropolitan Assemblies constituted the sampling frame. The institutional population (such as persons in hospitals, prisons, hotels and similar establishments, persons living on the streets or the homeless) were excluded from the frame.

The sample design was a clustered, multi-stage probability sample. The updated list of enumeration areas (EAs) that were used for the 2000 Population and Housing Census constitute the sampling frame for the four Metropolitan Assemblies for the survey. The EAs are defined as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), while households within the selected EAs constitute the Secondary Sampling Units (SSUs).

Selection of the sample was in two stages. At the first stage of sampling, 120 EAs (PSUs) were selected with Probability Proportional to Size (PPS). That is determination of the sample size uses proportional allocation based on each Metropolitan Assembly's share of the total population of the four metropolitan areas. The selection of EAs is accomplished by carrying out sampling operations independently within each metropolitan area. At the second stage, 13 households were selected systematically with a random start and interval separately for each EA to produce a total of 1,560 households for the four metropolitan areas.

Sampling deviation

No deviation of the original sample design was made

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire was developed in English by adapting the International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS) questionnaire. Prior to the main survey, the questionnaire was pretested.

Cleaning operations

Data editing occurred at three levels:

1. Data were validated in the field. Field editing was done by interviewers and supervisors of all questionnaires in the clusters that data were collected. Interviewers and supervisors revisited households to collect information which was either left out, uncompleted or not clear.
2. A team was engaged to do office editing. The purpose of office editing was to ensure that field data collection had conformed to the laid down principles and procedures. Necessary corrections were made if errors were found.
3. Data cleaning and imputation. This stage offered the data processing officers to run further checks that ensured consistency.

Data appraisal

Using SPSS software, basic data consistency checks were made and the necessary gaps were rectified.

In the first half of 2022, firearms were the main offensive weapons used to commit violent crimes in Ghana, accounting for a share of nearly 63 percent of all equipment used for this purpose. Knives and machetes followed at around 25 percent. Overall, crime offenders in the country often carry weapons, mostly shotguns, locally manufactured pistols, and rifles.

Guns are the main offensive weapons used in committing violent crimes in Ghana. In the second half of 2022, 118 guns used for such purposes were registered. Moreover, individuals used nearly 50 knives and machetes to commit violent crimes in the country in the said period.

According to the organized crime index, non-renewable resource crimes were the most common types of criminal market in Ghana as of 2023, with a score of 7.5 points. Other leading criminal markets pointed to flora crimes and synthetic drug trade. By extension, Western Africa has one of the highest levels of criminality in Africa.

Ghana: Homicides per 100,000 people: Pour cet indicateur, The UN office on drugs and crime fournit des données pour la Ghana de 2001 à 2017. La valeur moyenne pour Ghana pendant cette période était de 2 homicides per 100,000 people avec un minimum de 1.7 homicides per 100,000 people en 2010 et un maximum de 2.2 homicides per 100,000 people en 2001.

In 2024, South Africa ranked first in the crime index among African countries, with a score of **** index points. Nigeria was the second most dangerous country on the continent, obtaining **** points. The index evaluates the overall crime levels in a specific country. Several African countries scored between ** and ** points, indicating high crime levels. Escalating concerns: South Africans worry about crime and violence In 2024, South Africa had one of the highest proportions of respondents expressing concerns about crime and violence compared to other countries participating in an online study. Throughout the period examined, the percentage of participants worried about violence peaked at ** percent in March 2023. The escalating levels of violent crime currently witnessed in the country has caused this significant rise in concerned respondents. South Africa's organized crime landscape In 2023, South Africa ranked the ************* in organized crime compared to its African counterparts. The continent's most prevalent organized criminal activity was **************************************. Moreover, from a regional perspective, Southern African countries had the lowest organized crime rate.

In 2023, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had Africa's highest organized crime index in Africa, scoring 7.35 points. Nigeria ranked second with a total of 7.28 points. To follow, other African countries with significant criminality levels were South Africa, Kenya, Libya, and the Central African Republic. Main criminal markets in Africa Human trafficking is the main type of crime perpetrated in Africa. In 2022, over 21,700 human trafficking victims were identified in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most victims of trafficking in persons on the continent are girls and women, who are predominantly victims of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Other common forms of criminality in Africa are financial crimes, as well as arms trafficking, which include the illegal trade of unauthorized small arms, ammunition, and explosives. Terrorism across Africa In recent years, terrorism has spread at particularly high levels in some African countries. Nigeria, headquarter of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has been facing high levels of crime, violence, and poor national security, and ranked among the highest 10 countries in the global terrorism index in 2022. However, Nigeria and Niger have seen improvements between 2020 and 2022, with the hot spot area in the region moving more towards the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Furthermore, terrorism tends to have adverse effects on the economy. For example, the economic impact of terrorist acts between 2007 and 2019 in Nigeria amounted to around 142 billion U.S. dollars.

Ghana: Robberies per 100,000 people: Pour cet indicateur, The UN office on drugs and crime fournit des données pour la Ghana de à . La valeur moyenne pour Ghana pendant cette période était de robberies per 100,000 people avec un minimum de robberies per 100,000 people en et un maximum de robberies per 100,000 people en .

Between 2024 and 2025, the risk of mass murder in Ghana stood at 0.5 percent, compared to the 0.2 percent in the preceding year. The risk of genocide has fluctuated in the country overall. As of 2024-2025, Ghana ranked 101st among 168 nations. Furthermore, there has been no record of mass killing in the country since 1945. Overall, on the Global Peace Index, Ghana achieved a rate of 1.94 in 2024. The peace indicator ranges from one to five, where the lower the score, the more peaceful the country.

In 2024, the perceived corruption rank of Ghana increased to 80, from 70 in the preceding year. Within the observed period, the position of Ghana in the global corruption perception ranking varied but generally rose. The most improved rank was registered in 2015 (56th), while the worse was achieved in 2017, at the 81st position.