The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) says Ghana experienced a growth in employment, reflecting a decline in unemployment rate in 2024, mainly in the informal sector, describing such employment as “insecure.”

The Statistical Service said the national unemployment rate declined from a peak of 14.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 to 13.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the working population of persons aged 15 years and older reaching 14.2 million.

“Employment expanded steadily, with 409,000 more jobs in 2024 quarter four than in quarter three,” Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, Government Statistician, said on Thursday.

It was at the release of the July edition of the Quarterly Labour Statistics of the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), which provides a comprehensive overview of labour market dynamics in Ghana.

The report provides disaggregated insights on key labour indicators, including employment, unemployment, underemployment, and labour underutilisation, as well as sectoral and demographic patterns.

The Government Statistician noted that the country’s unemployment rate averaged 13.6 per cent in 2024, down from 14.6 per cent in 2023, representing a one percentage point in decline.

“This modest decline we’ve seen signals progress but reveals persistent disparities. Employment is growing, but too many jobs remain informal and insecure,” Dr Iddrisu stated.

The services sector remained the largest employer, with an average employment of 5.5 million in 2024, followed by Agriculture, 4.8 million and Industry, 2.1 million.

In 2024, youth unemployment rate for ages 15-24 averaged 32 per cent and for ages 15-35, it averaged 22.5 per cent, with seven out of 10 unemployed persons falling within the youth category.

“This evidence highlights the urgency of expanded and a more focused labour market practices and policies, such as retraining and reskilling programmes to combat skills mismatch and boost employability,” the Government Statistician noted.

He said tackling youth and long-term unemployment, bridging regional disparities, formalising informal work, and aligning skills training with market needs remained urgent priorities for the country.

He urged the Government to scale up apprenticeship and job placement services, reform Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to match training and demand, while creating avenues for affordable credit to small businesses.

Addressing unemployment issue in the country would not be left alone to the government, Dr Iddrisu said, encouraging the private sector to develop structured internships and entry level roles for graduates, and increase partnerships with educational institutions to make academic programmes meet with labour market needs.

For the country’s development partners, he asked them to channel more resources into rural job creation avenues and scalable youth employment initiatives, while aligning donor programmes with Ghana’s employment priorities for maximum impact.