Ghana Census figure conflicts with EC Biometric voter register

Analysis of the final results of the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) and the Electoral Commission's biometric voter register reveals an interesting scenario for the outcome of the election particularly in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions. While the PHC result shows that the population of the Ashanti Region exceeds that of the Greater Accra Region by 770,326 persons (a figure that more than accounts for the whole of the population of the Upper West Region (702,110) and still has 68,216 persons more to spare yet the Greater Accra Region registered more voters than Ashanti Region. Number of voters in GT. ACCRA is 2,792,576 and Ashanti Region is 2,557,122. NATIONAL TOTAL is 14,031,793 and 26,002 polling stations. What accounts for this apparent discrepancy? Some voters were persuaded to register elsewhere rather than their usual polling station or constituency where they normally vote. Food for thought.

The final results of the fifth Ghana census conducted on  September 26, 2010 to fill the substantial data gaps arising from the creation of new districts was announced by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in Accra on Thursday May 31, 2012. The results were based on 10 Administrative Regions and the 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts that existed at the time of the census. The the objective was providing the country with up-to-date socio-economic data for planning and evaluating various government policies and intervention programmes at national, regional and district levels.It is nearly two years since the operation was conducted and some 16 months following the release of provisional results in February 2011. It is the second time a population and housing census (PHC) has been conducted as a single operation. 

The sex ratio is 95 males per 100 females. The total number of females is 12,633,978 representing 51.2 per cent while males account for 12,024,845, representing 48.8 per cent of the entire population (See Table 1.)

Table 1 - Population by Region and Sex, 2010

The population increased from 18,912,079 in 2000 to 24,658,823 in 2010.

The Ashanti Region had the highest population of 4,780,380 representing 19.4 per cent compared to 19.1 per cent in 2000. The Greater Accra Region followed with 4,010,054 representing 16.3 per cent compared to 15.4 per cent in 2000 whiles the Upper West Region had the lowest population of 702,110 representing 2.8 per cent declining from 3.0 per cent in 2000. The breakdown of the current population figures are contained in Table 2.

Table 2 - Percentage distribution of population by region, 2000 - 2010

The current population recorded represents a 30.4 per cent increase within the decade. The annual intercensal growth rate of the population is 2.5 per cent with Greater Accra Region registering the highest growth rate of 3.1 per cent whiles Upper West Region had the least growth rate of 1.9 per cent (See Table 3.)

Table 3 - Population Growth 2000 to 2010

The population density for the country has increased from 79 persons per square kilometre in 2000 to 103 persons in 2010.While Greater Accra Region with intense pressure of 1,236 person per Sq Km, Northern Region has just 35 persons sq/km (See Table 4.)

Table 4 - Population Densities by Region, 1984 to 2010

The potential workforce of the population comprising ages 15 - 64 is 14,040,893 representing 56.94 per cent while the dependency population is 10,617, 930 representing 43.06 per cent. The adult population consisting of the section of the population 18+ which is also the proportion of the population permitted to vote is 13,632,299 representing 55.28 per cent (See Table 5.)

Table 5 -  Selected Demographic Characteristics of the population