The rate of adult literacy as share of the country's population 15 years and above in Ghana increased by 1.3 percent (+1.64 percent) in 2020 in comparison to the previous year. While the growth is slowing down, with 80.38 percent, the rate of adult literacy is at its peak in the observed period. Notably, the rate of adult literacy continuously increased over the last years.The adult literacy rate refers to the share of individuals aged 15 years and older who can read and write as well as understand simple expressions about their daily lives.Find more statistics on other topics about Ghana with key insights such as Gender Parity Index (GPI) in youth literacy, number of children out of school, and duration of compulsory education.

Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 71.497 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 57.897 % for 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 64.697 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 71.497 % in 2010 and a record low of 57.897 % in 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data was reported at 83.235 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 65.489 % for 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 74.362 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 83.235 % in 2010 and a record low of 65.489 % in 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

The literacy rate among females in Cabo Verde reached 82 percent. Cabo Verde represented the West African country in which the literacy rate among women aged 15 years and over was the highest. On the contrary, the literacy rate in Chad equaled to 14 percent of female adults, the lowest figure in West Africa.

In 2023, 67.97 percent of people aged 15 years and above in Africa were able to read and write a simple statement and understand it. Regionally, Southern Africa presented the highest literacy rate, at around 80 percent. North and East Africa had similar shares of literate people, at over 71 percent. In contrast, 67.5 percent and 54 percent of the adult population in Central and West Africa could read and write.

Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 85.716 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 70.663 % for 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 78.190 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 85.716 % in 2010 and a record low of 70.663 % in 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

In 2021, 78.6 percent of the people aged 15 to 24 years in Africa were able to read and write a simple statement with understanding. Regionally, North Africa presented the highest youth literacy rate, at nearly 90 percent. Southern Africa followed closely, with 88 percent of young people literate. In contrast, 68 percent of the youth population in West Africa could read and write.

Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI) in Ghana was reported at 0.92177 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Ghana - Ratio of young literate females to males (% ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

Between 2018 and 2022, Seychelles was the country with the highest adult literacy rate in Africa, at around 96 percent. São Tomé and Príncipe and Namibia followed with a literacy rate of approximately 94 percent and 92 percent, respectively. The average rate on the continent stood at roughly 67 percent. Moreover, Southern Africa had the highest literacy levels among African regions.

In 2020, the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in youth literacy in Ghana depicted equality between males and females. This represented an increased GPI of 0.1 points compared to the periods between 2000 and 2014, which favored males.

Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 78.349 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 66.351 % for 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 72.350 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 78.349 % in 2010 and a record low of 66.351 % in 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank: Education Statistics. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Abstract

The 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) Survey is a nationwide sample survey, designed to provide indicators for monitoring poverty and living standards in the country, at national, regional and district levels. It is a district-based probability sample that covered a total of 49,003 households nationwide, with 405 households drawn from each district, except for the metropolitan areas, which had samples of households as follows: Accra, 2,430; Kumasi, 11,620; and Shama-Ahanta East, 1,215; as well as the Tema Municipal Area, 810.

Key Findings were as follows:

Adult Literacy

About 50 per cent of the population aged 15 years can read and write (53.4 per cent), an increase of about 10 per cent over the rate recorded in the 1997 CWIQ Survey. Males have a higher literacy rate than females, 65.8 per cent compared to 42.3 per cent. There is a 30 percentage point gap between urban and rural literacy rates (69.6 per cent and 39.8 per cent respectively). Females are more disadvantaged in rural areas where the literacy rate is less than 30 per cent compared urban areas where the rate is more than 50 per cent. The female literacy rates are also lower than the male rates in both urban and rural areas of the country.

Youth Literacy

Among the youth, i.e., the population aged 15 - 24 years, the proportion that can read and write increased only slightly from 64.1 per cent in 1997 to 68.7 per cent in 2003. The female youth made some modest gains in their literacy levels, which increased by 10 per cent, while that of males increased by only 4 per cent over the five-year period. The literacy rate for urban youth (81.7 per cent) is considerably higher than that of the rural youth (56.4 per cent). The rural poor have however remained disadvantaged, with just a third of its females and less than half of its males being able to read and write.

Net Enrolment

Seven in 10 children aged 6 to 11 years are enrolled in primary school, for girls as for boys. The differences between the enrolment rates for girls and boys at the national level, and in the rural and urban areas are marginal. The biggest gender gap is 2.4 percentage points among the urban poor, with boys having the edge.

Substantially fewer children progress from primary to secondary level. Of the children aged 12 to 17 years, only about 4 in 10, are enrolled in secondary school, and the gender disparity in 1997 has reversed. Overall, enrolment at the secondary level declined marginally, from 40.0 percent in 1997 to 38.1 per cent in 2003. The rate however declined appreciably for males (from 43.6 to 37.9 per cent) but increased slightly for females (from 36.4 to 38.4 per cent) over the five year period. There are substantial differences between the urban and rural areas (50.5 per cent compared to 28.7 per cent), and between the poor in urban and rural areas (40.3 per cent compared to 15.2 per cent).

Access to School

A high proportion of primary school children (85.4 per cent) have a primary school within 30 minutes of their home, compared to only 43.3 per cent, for secondary schools. Access to a primary school is substantially high for all four subgroups - rural versus urban and rural poor versus urban poor. The rural poor have the lowest access rate (72.7 per cent), with 93.4 percent of the urban poor reporting access. In contrast, about 62.6 per cent of secondary level students in urban areas, but only 28.8 per cent of their counterparts in rural areas have a secondary school within 30 minutes of their home. The corresponding proportions for the

urban and rural poor are 55.1 and 12.9 per cent, respectively.

Satisfaction with Education

About two-thirds (68.0 per cent) of all primary school children report being satisfied with the school they attend while a higher proportion (75.0 per cent) of the secondary school students report being satisfied with their school. However, primary pupils and secondary students in rural areas, especially the rural poor, are less satisfied with their schools than their counterparts in the urban areas.

Access to Health Facilities.

The time required to reach a health facility could affect the chances of survival of sick people, especially in emergency situations. Yet, only 57.6 per cent of the population live within 30 minutes of a health facility. This is however a significant improvement over the 1997 average of 37.2 per cent. More than three quarters (78.5 per cent) of urban households have good access to health facilities compared to 42.3 per cent of the rural households. The urban poor have an access rate (72.7 per cent) below the average rate for all urban areas (78.5 percent); while the rural poor is more disadvantaged, relative to their counterparts - in all rural areas and the urban poor. Only 27 per cent of the rural poor live within 30 minutes of a health facility.

Adequacy of Health Services

About 18 per cent of the population reported having been sick or injured in the four-week period preceding the survey, and there has been little change in the situation since 1997 (18.6 percent). In general, only 18.4 per cent of the people consult a health practitioner. Nearly eight out of ten (78.6 per cent) persons who use health services are satisfied with the services they receive, a considerable improvement over the 1997 rate of 57 per cent. The level of satisfaction with the medical services show very little variation across groups. Equal proportions of rural and urban users of the health services are satisfied, and a slightly lower percentage of the rural than urban poor users of these facilities are satisfied.

Prenatal Care

About nine in ten women (93.4 per cent) aged 12-49 years who had live births within 12 months of the survey, received prenatal care. The urban and rural poor have lower participation in prenatal care than their counterparts. The proportion of these women who received prenatal care is 95.9 per cent for the urban poor, and 97.3 per cent for all urban areas. Similarly, the rural poor have lower participation in prenatal care than all rural areas; 86.5 per cent compared to 91.2 percent, respectively.

Births Assisted by Trained Health Professionals

About half of the children aged under five years, were delivered with the assistance of a trained health professional (doctors, nurses and midwifes) in 2003 (51.8 per cent), an increase over the proportion in 1997 (44.7 per cent). The involvement of trained professionals in birth deliveries is more than twice as high in the urban areas (83.3 per cent), than in the rural areas (34.7 per cent). The rate of professionally assisted births is extremely low among the rural poor, for whom the corresponding proportion is only 17.3 per cent compared to that for the urban poor, almost four times as high.

Child Nutritional Status

Of the three anthropometric indicators of malnutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight), stunting is the most prevalent among the children aged 0-4 years. Nearly one-third (32.4 percent) of the children under the age of five years are stunted (short for their age) compared to 15.5 per cent for wasted (underweight for age for height) and 25.8 per cent for underweight (underweight for their height for age). Stunting is higher in rural children (33.6 per cent) than in urban children (30.0 per cent), while children of the poor in both rural and urban areas are worse off relative to the national average. However, the urban rates for both wasting and

underweight are considerably higher than the rural rates, and the urban rates are higher than the national average, while the rural rates are lower. While the level of underweight barely changed over the five year period, (26.0 per cent, in 1997), the rates of stunting and wasting have worsened, and in the case of wasting, it is more than double the 1997 rate (6.5 per cent).

Availability of Employment

The proportion of the population aged 15 years and older who are unemployed averaged 5.4 percent, a slight increase over the 1997 figure (4.6 per cent). The proportion for urban areas (7.6 per cent) is about twice that of rural areas (3.5 per cent). The underemployment rate stood at 13.6 per cent, with the rural rate being 14.9 per cent, and urban, 12.1 per cent.

Meeting Food Needs

More than a tenth (12.8 per cent) of the households report having problems to meet their basic food needs. However, this problem is more prevalent among the rural poor. The proportion of rural households that have difficulty meeting their basic food needs is slightly higher (13.8 per cent) than for urban areas (11.6 per cent).

Access to Water

More than 90 per cent of households are within 30 minutes of their source of drinking water, compared to 82.1 per cent recorded in 1997. Both the rural and urban households record an access level of over 90 per cent. The rural poor have a lower access rate of 83.1 per cent, compared to 94.9 per cent for the urban poor.

Improved Water Source

The quality of drinking water is of great importance to the health of every individual. A higher percentage of households obtain their drinking water from improved water sources- pipe water in the dwelling, outdoor tap, borehole, and protected well-(74.1 per cent), compared to the 1997 figure of 65.2 per cent. Urban households record a higher percentage than rural households (87.3 per cent and 63.0 per cent, respectively), with over 20 percentage points difference.

Safe Sanitation

Safe sanitation, defined as the use of flush toilet, covered pit latrine and VIP/KVIP, is available to 55 per cent of households. Although this represents an improvement over the 1997 rate of 45.8 per cent, safe sanitation is more of an urban (80.9 per cent) than rural phenomenon (33.1 per cent). Safe sanitation facilities are even scarcer among the rural poor, with only 9.2 per cent of their households with these facilities. Moreover, the proportion of urban poor households with safe sanitation (66.9 per cent),

Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data was reported at 88.311 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 75.946 % for 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 82.128 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 88.311 % in 2010 and a record low of 75.946 % in 2000. Ghana GH: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

This dataset contains many indicators in education such as as Net enrolment rate in primary education, Ratio of girls to boys in primary education, etc. The whole list and their description can be find in this link https://bit.ly/2NWP6Z1

Female literacy rate in Nigeria is among the highest in West Africa. However, the difference between male and female literacy rates are substantial in both urban and rural areas. As of 2018, the rate among men living in rural areas of Nigeria reached roughly 60 percent, whereas female literacy rates in the same areas was 35 percent. The gap in urban Nigeria amounted to about ten percentage points.

In West Africa, the highest female literacy rates were registered in Cabo Verde and Ghana, while Nigeria ranked third.

Ghana GH: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data was reported at 0.943 Ratio in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.862 Ratio for 2000. Ghana GH: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 0.902 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.943 Ratio in 2010 and a record low of 0.862 Ratio in 2000. Ghana GH: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ghana – Table GH.World Bank: Education Statistics. Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of females to males ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

The Early Grade Reading program in Ghana, implemented under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Partnership for Education Learning Activity, was evaluated with a quasi-experimental impact evaluation between 2017 and 2019. This data asset contains the three waves of data collected in Ghana during this time period.

The STEP (Skills Toward Employment and Productivity) Measurement program is the first ever initiative to generate internationally comparable data on skills available in developing countries. The program implements standardized surveys to gather information on the supply and distribution of skills and the demand for skills in labor market of low-income countries.

The uniquely-designed Household Survey includes modules that measure the cognitive skills (reading, writing and numeracy), socio-emotional skills (personality, behavior and preferences) and job-specific skills (subset of transversal skills with direct job relevance) of a representative sample of adults aged 15 to 64 living in urban areas, whether they work or not. The cognitive skills module also incorporates a direct assessment of reading literacy based on the Survey of Adults Skills instruments. Modules also gather information about family, health and language.

The highest literacy rates in Nigeria were registered in the southern regions of the country. In the South West, 89 percent of males and 80.6 percent of females were literate as of 2018. Also, the south zones showed the lowest percentage differences between male and female literacy. Female literacy rate in Nigeria is among the highest in West Africa. The highest female literacy rates were registered in Cabo Verde and Ghana, while Nigeria ranked third.

Abstract

The evaluation had the primary objective of measuring the impact of the FBO training program on farmers' farm productivity and crop income. It was based on a randomized phase-in approach, taking advantage of the fact that not all FBOs that were to be part of the program could be trained at the same time, and so implicit in the program design itself was some degree of phasing. At the core of the impact evaluation was a difference-in-difference approach designed to measure the difference in agricultural output between the treatment group (a collection of FBO members who received commercial trainings in 2008 and 2009) and the control group (a collection of FBO members who received commercial trainings a year later). The Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) Survey series is a collection of data designed to evaluate the impact of these trainings on farmers in Ghana. To aid the survey and enable the implementation of the difference-in-difference approach, the FBOs were divided into two batches and each farmer was to be interviewed twice: once at baseline and again after one year. Batch 1 treatment and control farmers were surveyed in November-December 2008 and again in February-April 2010. Batch 2 treatment and control farmers were surveyed in February-April 2010 and again in November 2010-January 2011. In total, approximately 6,000 farmers -- 3,000 in the treatment group and 3,000 in control group -- were surveyed.

Geographic coverage

The FBO Survey targeted only farmers in rural Ghana who were also members of Farmer-Based Organizations (FBOs). Commercial trainings occurred in 30 districts across three (3) zones: the Northern Agriculture Zone (Northern Region), the Afram Basin Zone (Ashanti and Eastern regions), and the Southern Horticultural Belt (South-East Coastal Plains).

Analysis unit

The FBO Survey collected data on both farming individuals and farming households. The demographic information captured FBO members farmers' non-farm employment activities. Demographic information related to the individual included: sex, age, educational attainment (and literacy levels), religious affiliation, marital status and the relationship to the head of household. Descriptive information of the household included: age-sex composition, household size, sex of head of household, and household dependency ratios.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) Survey covered farmers in three (3) Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) operational zones and the sample was selected in two (2) stages. In the first stage, FBOs were selected within each zone. MiDA made 600 FBOs available to the survey group, all of which were used in the sample. FBOs were randomly assigned to either receive the early trainings (Batch I) or the late trainings (Batch II). In the second stage, five (5) farmers were selected from each of the the 600 FBOs. Each batch contained approximately 3,000 farmers and 6,000 farmers in all were interviewed.

Sampling deviation

Researchers noted that there seemed to have been some level of contamination of the control group -- a problem that the farmers in the southern zone raised. There were two sources of this contamination. One was from the control farmers attending training sessions meant for the treatment group. The other source was engendered by the situation where farmers who got the training went around to their colleagues in the control group (who may have been part of some "original" groupings) and taught them what they had learned. Whereas the first was an implementation challenge, researchers noted, the second reflects positive spillovers of the training.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]