GSS Report: Over 360,000 Ghanaians Exited Poverty in 2025
- Over 300,000 Ghanaians exited multidimensional poverty in Q3 2025, according to the Ghana Statistical Service
- The GSS said that the national poverty headcount dropped from 24.9% in late 2024 to 21.9% in the same period
- Significant rural-urban and regional disparities still persist, with living conditions and health driving deprivation
Over 300,000 Ghanaians exited poverty in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
This indicates that Ghana has made significant progress in reducing multidimensional poverty over the past year, with approximately 360,000 people escaping deprivation between mid and late 2025.
Source: Facebook
According to the GSS report released on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, there are still persistent inequalities between rural and urban areas, with staggering regional disparities.
This, according to the statistical service, threatens to delay broader national gains.
Presenting the Quarterly Multidimensional Poverty Report for 2024 to 2025 Q3 at a press conference on January 21, Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu disclosed that the national poverty headcount fell from 24.9% in the last quarter of 2024 to 21.9% by the third quarter of 2025.
This represents a decline from 8.2 million to a little over 7 million people who are classified as multidimensionally poor.
"Encouragingly, over 360,000 people moved out of multidimensional poverty between Q2 and Q3 of 2025 alone, confirming a sustained decline in poverty over the period," portions of the GSS report were quoted in a Graphic Online report.
Despite this positive outlook, Dr Iddrisu indicated that the data paints a picture of a nation developing at two distinct speeds.
He added that the rural-urban gap remains significant, with rural poverty incidence at 31.9% in Q3 2025, more than double the urban rate of 14.2% - a gap exceeding 17 percentage points.
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Regional breakdown of GSS report on poverty
"North East and Savannah Regions recorded the highest poverty incidence, exceeding 50 per cent in both Q2 and Q3 2025, while Greater Accra and Western Regions remained below 20 per cent," the report added.
In terms of raw numbers, the GSS report indicated that the highly populated Ashanti and Northern Regions each have over one million multidimensionally poor citizens.
With regard to the core drivers of ongoing deprivation, health and living conditions remain the dominant forces.
According to the GSS report, these driving forces collectively account for over 74% of poverty's composition.
It added that lack of health insurance is the largest contributor at 26.5%, followed by nutrition, which stands at 14.4%, and employment deprivation, which records 12.3%.
The GSS report also raised alarm over what it described as 'emerging pressures' outside the health sector.
These, it said, include a near-doubling of overcrowding deprivation and rising school attendance deprivation between Q2 and Q3 2025.
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Netizens react to GSS poverty report
Ghanaians on social media have reacted to the GSS report, with YEN.com.gh compiling a few of the comments below:
@Kwadwo Boadi said:
"Have you guys forgotten that death too is an exit route?"
@Tom Jay also said:
"Where are they and can we know the exit procedure if any?"
@Nii Teiko Okine commented:
"FX stability, lower fuel prices and easing inflation are improving real disposable incomes. Facts."
@Kwame Ampeh also commented:
"How many are remaining? We need that data too."
Source: Facebook
Youth unemployment rate hits 1.3 million
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported that Ghana's youth unemployment rate had sparked alarm, with 1.3 million people aged 15-24 out of work, school, or training.
Minister for Youth Development, George Opare Addo, warned that this posed a national security threat to Ghana, amid criticism of the NDC job creation promise.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
