Key facts

Where UK bilateral aid goes - pie chart showing bilateral aid spending in Ghana (2008/09)

Facts about Ghana

Population: 23.3 million (World Bank Statistics, 2008).
Average life expectancy: 59 years (Human Development Report, Ghana, 2007). UK: 79 years (UN Statistics Division (UNSD), 2007).
Average per capita income: US$1,430 (purchasing power parity (PPP) UK: US$36,130 (PPP) (World Development Indicators (WDI), 2008).
Gross national income (GNI): US$16.3 billion (UNSD, 2008).
Average annual GDP growth rate: 5% (Ghana Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, 2009).
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needs: 18% (Ghana Living Standards Survey, 2005/06).
Women dying in childbirth: 451 per 100,000 - Ghana Maternal Health Survey, 2007. UK: 13 per 100,000 (UNSD, 2007).
Children dying before age 5: 80 per 1,000 live births (Preliminary results – 2008 Demographic Health Survey). UK: 6 per 1,000 (UNSD, 2006).
Percentage of children receiving primary school education: 89% (net) (Preliminary Education Sector Performance Report, Ghana Ministry of Education, 2009).
Percentage of people aged 15-24 living with HIV/AIDS: 1.9% (Ghana HIV/AIDS Sentinel Survey, 2008).
Percentage of households with access to safe, clean water: 84%; access to safe sanitation: 12% (Ghana's demographic and health survey 2008).
Total UK aid received (2008/09): £99m. (Source: Statistics for International Development 2009)

Progress towards Millennium Development Goals

Ghana is making good progress towards several of the MDGs, but more improvement is needed in other areas.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
The percentage of those living below the national poverty line has fallen from 52% in 1991-92 to 26% in 2005-06.

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education
The percentage of children of official school age (net enrolment) who are enrolled in primary schools rose from 81% in 2006/07 to 89% in 2008/09. The total number of children enrolled at the primary level irrespective of age (gross enrolment) increased from 91% in 2006/07 to 95% in 2008/09.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
For every 100 boys in primary education, there are 96 girls.

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
There has been significant progress on under five mortality, although for every 13 children in Ghana, one child still dies before his/her fifth birthday. Previously 1 in 10 children died before his/her fifth birthday.

MDG 5: Improve maternal health
Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio has improved slightly in recent years: for every 100,000 women giving birth, 451 die (down from 560 deaths per 100,000 live births, WHO, 2005) Ghana maternal health survey, 2007.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
The overall HIV prevalence in Ghana is stabilising, with a relatively low rate (2%) compared to that of other sub-Saharan African countries. There has been a marked increase in vaccination coverage for children under 2 from 69% in 2003 to 79% in 2008.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
The 2007 Country Environment Assessment by the World Bank indicated that an unsustainable 9.6% of Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually through environmental degradation - through weak management of the country’s natural resources and environmental health impacts related to water supply and sanitation and indoor/outdoor air pollution.

Eighty-four per cent (84%) of households now have access to safe water but sanitation lags behind with just 12% of households having access to improved sanitation.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Donors are partnering for development, most significantly through the Ghana Joint Assistance Strategy (GJAS) Almost 87% of DFID's budget support is channelled through government systems.

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