More than 4.8 million Ghanaians, representing 30.8% of the country’s urban population, are living in slums, according to a new report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The figure, which far surpasses the global average of 24.7%, underscores the deepening crisis of urban poverty and inequality, even as it remains below the Sub-Saharan African average of 53.9%.
The findings were made public in Accra during the launch of a report titled Slums and Informal Settlements in Ghana.
The report offers one of the most comprehensive statistical insights yet into the living conditions of urban poor communities, with data ranging from access to basic services to literacy and mortality rates.
Northern and Savannah regions worst affected
The report highlights that slum conditions are most severe in the Northern and Savannah regions, where residents endure what the GSS describes as “extreme slum intensity.”
These areas face compounded deprivation in sanitation, housing durability, access to clean drinking water, and adequate room occupancy.
In the more urbanised regions like Greater Accra and Ashanti, slum dwellers also face precarious living conditions, worsened by high levels of rental dependency.
More than half of slum residents in these regions live in rented accommodations, often in overcrowded and unsafe environments.
Slum poverty twice as high as non-slum areas
The data shows a stark disparity in multidimensional poverty levels between slum and non-slum areas.
While 23.4% of slum residents are classified as multidimensionally poor—taking into account education, health, and standard of living—only 10.5% of non-slum residents face the same level of deprivation.
Educational outcomes are especially dire. One in three slum dwellers cannot read or write, and one in five has never attended school. Health indicators are equally disturbing.
The household death rate in slum communities stands at 41.6 per 10,000 people, significantly higher than the 30.7 deaths per 10,000 people recorded in non-slum areas.
Data as a tool for development
Commenting on the findings, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, the Government Statistician, emphasised that the statistics represented “real people, families striving to make a life within difficult constraints.”
He noted that the data must be more than just numbers—it should serve as a catalyst for policy action.
“With the right commitment, coordination, and policy direction, we can change these outcomes,” Dr. Iddrisu said.
He reaffirmed the GSS’s dedication to producing accessible, user-driven data that would enable the government, civil society, and development partners to craft more targeted and impactful interventions.
According to him, the government could leverage the data for better budgeting and slum upgrading strategies, while civil society groups might use it to drive community-led advocacy and literacy programs, especially among women and youth. Development partners, he added, could align their funding and technical support to long-term, locally grounded solutions.
Housing and urbanisation experts weigh in
Professor Stephen Owusu Kwankye, a senior lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies at the University of Ghana, said the data had arrived at a critical time.
He urged policymakers to use the findings as a basis to confront the housing crisis head-on.
“Urbanisation has a strong link with the growth of slums,” Prof. Kwankye said.
“If we are serious about inclusive development, we must address the structural problems in our urban planning and housing delivery systems.”
A grim reality, but a chance for change
The GSS report paints a grim but necessary picture of life in Ghana’s slums.
While the statistics are sobering, officials and experts alike agree that they provide an essential foundation for transformative change.
The hope now is that this new data will serve as a wake-up call—spurring coordinated, multisectoral action to restore dignity and opportunity to the millions of Ghanaians living on the margins of the nation’s urban growth.
