Rural population growth in Ghana
Ghana: Rural population growth was 0.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population growth in Ghana, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, rural population growth in Ghana stood at 0.5%. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 11.6% on the previous year and down 56.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Ghana peaked at 2.8% in 1979 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2025.
That places Ghana 84th out of 207 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.7% | 1.5% | 2.0% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.6% | 2.2% | 2.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.0% | 1.4% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
- 81 Antigua and Barbuda 0.5% compare
- 82 Mauritania 0.5% compare
- 83 Honduras 0.5% compare
- 85 Myanmar 0.4% compare
- 86 Micronesia (country) 0.4% compare
- 87 Ecuador 0.4% compare
More agriculture & rural data for Ghana
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2023)
- Rural population 41.1% (2025)
- Rural population 14.40 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 21.3% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 24.30 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.15 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 2,688 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 5.77 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 28.89 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Ghana?
- Rural population growth in Ghana was 0.5% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 2.8% in 1979.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2025.
- How does Ghana rank for rural population growth?
- Ghana ranks 84th out of 207 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 56.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.