More than 289 000 Ghanaians migrated abroad in 2021– GSS

11th Mar 2023 | Source: News Ghana

Travellers At The Airport

Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has noted an increase in the number of Ghanaians who have travelled and settled outside the country.

In the year 2010, 250,624 people left the country and in the year 2021, 289,531 also emigrated.

Per age, the population of emigrants peaks at 25 to 39 years. Children under the age of 15 and the aged 65+ constitute the least (4.0%) likely to emigrate.

More than half (53.7%) of emigrants originates from Greater Accra (26.9%) and Ashanti (26.8%) regions.

Most emigrants come from rural areas with the exception of Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western Regions, however.

Ghanaians mostly head for Europe (37.6%), the Americas (North, South, and Carribean (23.7%)), and Africa, other than ECOWAS (10.0%) when they relocate.

The reasons for emigrating include: Employment (73.4%), Education/training (14.6%), Marriage (9.6%) and Settlement (2.4%).

Data for the thematic report on migration, unveiled, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), came mainly from the 2021 Population & Housing Census (PHC), supported with others from the last two censuses, 2000 and 2010.