Unemployment among Ghana’s youth continues to pose a major challenge to the country’s labour market despite a modest decline in the national unemployment rate in 2024, the latest Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) quarterly labour statistics has revealed.

The report showed that while overall unemployment fell to 13.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024 — the lowest since the 14.9 per cent peak recorded in early 2023 — youth unemployment remained significantly higher. The rate stood at 22.5 per cent among persons aged 15 to 35 years, and 32 per cent for those aged 15 to 24 years.

The report indicated that seven out of every 10 unemployed persons in 2024 were within the 15 to 35-year age bracket.

The proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) also climbed in the final two quarters of the year, reaching 25.8 per cent for the 15 to 24 year group and 22.4 per cent for those aged 15 to 35 years.

Despite the challenges, some progress was recorded in the wider labour market.

The report said Ghana’s labour force averaged 14 million people in 2024, with more than 85 per cent employed in every quarter. 

The report said employment grew by about 409,000 between the third and fourth quarters, largely driven by urban areas where employment expanded by 14.9 per cent over the last three years, compared with 11.8 per cent in rural areas.

The labour force participation rate, however, slipped to 70.2 per cent in 2024, from 71.6 per cent in 2023, while the absorption rate — the proportion of employed persons within the working-age population — declined slightly to 60.7 per cent.

The report also highlighted regional disparities and said Greater Accra and Ashanti regions consistently recorded unemployment rates above the national average, while Eastern, Ahafo, Bono East, Oti, and Upper West regions posted relatively lower rates. Notably, four regions — Bono, Northern, Upper West and Eastern — experienced rising unemployment across the quarters, bucking the national downward trend.

Another concern was long-term unemployment, the report indicating about four in every 10 unemployed persons had been without work for at least one year, with more than 355,000 people experiencing unemployment spells of 12 months or longer between 2022 and 2024.

It said though individuals with tertiary education were the least affected, the figures still pointed to graduate absorption challenges.

The report said that although employment was expanding, many of the jobs remained informal and insecure.

It recommended urgent policy measures to expand decent work opportunities, address widening regional disparities, and implement targeted youth employment initiatives to prevent long-term joblessness from becoming further entrenched.