Close to two million Ghanaians aged 15 to 35 were neither working nor enrolled in education or training in the third quarter of 2025, with young women accounting for more than six in every 10, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has reported.

The Ghana in Numbers 2025 findings highlight youth exclusion as Ghana seeks to turn its growing young population into productive economic participation.

“Close to two million young people are neither working nor in education or training, what we refer to as the NEET group, and more than six in ten of them are young women.”
Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu

Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu stated that the number outside employment, education and training, particularly women, required attention.

According to the publication, the average rate of young people classified as NEET was 17.9 per cent during the first three quarters of 2025. The category covers people who are neither employed nor participating in education or training.

More than 60 per cent of the nearly two million people in the NEET group were women, Dr Iddrisu disclosed, drawing attention to the need to address their exclusion from work and learning opportunities.

Central Region Records Highest NEET Rate

The GSS data show differences in youth participation across the country. The Central Region recorded a NEET rate of 25.3 per cent, the highest figure highlighted in the publication.

The figures distinguish the youth population from those connected to opportunities. The estimated number affected conveys the scale of the challenge, while the gender breakdown shows its disproportionate impact on women.

This figure was above the reported urban and rural rates, while the national average across the first three quarters remained 17.9 per cent, as recorded in the GSS publication.

The urban rate stood at 20.6 per cent, compared with 18 per cent in rural communities, with the reported urban rate higher.

School Enrolment Shows Transition Challenges

Gross enrolment counts all pupils attending a level, regardless of age, against the population expected to be enrolled at that level.

The figures show that primary gross enrolment stood at 111 per cent in 2019/20, while junior high school enrolment was 83.2 per cent. The 27.8 percentage-point gap had narrowed to 20 points by 2023/24, suggesting gradual improvement in the transition from primary to junior high school.

Net enrolment offers a stricter measure because it counts only children within the official age range for a particular level. Junior high participation on this measure fell to 44.3 per cent in 2021/22, before increasing by 14.5 percentage points to 58.8 per cent in 2022/23.

The increase was the largest single-year gain in the series, although participation remained below 60 per cent.

Completion rates assess how many children old enough to finish a level actually do so. Junior high completion rose from 77.5 per cent to 88.4 per cent over five years, meaning almost nine in every 10 pupils now complete the level.

Primary completion, however, declined from a peak of 108.6 per cent to 102 per cent. Both primary and junior high completion rates dipped after 2022/23, according to the data, indicating that progress has not been consistent.

GSS to Monitor Youth Employment and Education

The GSS indicated that future editions of Ghana in Numbers will track youth unemployment, NEET rates, informal work and the alignment between education and jobs. The indicators are intended to support planning and policy decisions.

The indicators will allow the service to follow changes over time rather than relying on a single snapshot. Tracking informal work alongside unemployment and NEET rates may also help describe the different ways young people participate in the economy.

Monitoring how education connects with available jobs is another part of that exercise, as the publication seeks to provide an evidence base for decisions affecting the country’s young population and its future workforce.

While the data do not establish a direct link between the education indicators and the NEET population, they show the importance of examining education and employment trends together.

With young people making up about a third of Ghana’s population, the high NEET figure and disproportionate share of young women present a pressing concern.

The GSS’s planned monitoring is intended to give policymakers evidence to assess these challenges and guide decisions on youth employment, education and training.