Ghana has made headway in eliminating multidimensional poverty during the last year, with over 360,000 people escaping deprivation between mid- and late-2025.
However, substantial and persistent inequality between rural and urban communities, as well as astonishing regional discrepancies, threaten to stymie greater national progress, according to a major new government assessment issued today.
The Quarterly Multidimensional Poverty Report for 2024 to 2025 Q3, delivered today in Accra by Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, revealed that the national poverty headcount has fallen from 24.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 21.9% in the third quarter of 2025.
This means that the number of multidimensionally poor individuals has decreased from 8.2 million to “a little over 7 million people.
“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,” according to the report.
The data shows that the country is developing at two different rates notwithstanding this encouraging trend. With rural poverty incidence at 31.9% in Q3 2025, more than twice as high as the urban rate of 14.2%, the difference between rural and urban areas is still over 17 percentage points.
Even more severe regional disparities exist. “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,” according to the research.
There are more than a million multidimensionally impoverished people living in the densely populated Ashanti and Northern areas.
The main causes of persistent deprivation are identified in the report. Living conditions and health continue to be the key factors, making up more than 74% of the components of poverty.
The biggest contribution, at 26.5%, is not having health insurance, which is followed by malnutrition (14.4%) and unemployment (12.3%).
Concerningly, the research identifies “emerging pressures” outside the health sector, such as a nearly twofold increase in overcrowding deprivation and an increase in school attendance deprivation between Q2 and Q3 2025.
The data effectively highlights the protective benefits of stable employment and education. The prevalence of poverty falls to just 5.7% for households with tertiary education, whereas it is highest among those whose heads have no formal education (38.5%).
In a similar vein, the poverty rate for homes led by unemployed individuals is 35.6%, while it is only 5.3% for households headed by public sector employees.
The burden is still disproportionately placed on vulnerable people. Poverty is much higher in households headed by people with severe disabilities, especially hearing impairments (43.0%) and those in informal unions (33.1%).
Additionally, the number of persons suffering from the crippling “triple burden” of poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity rose slightly to 227,500, with the highest concentrations occurring in the metropolitan areas of Ashanti, Central, and Greater Accra rather than the poorest areas.
Dr. Iddrisu presented the report as an appeal for focused action.
“What these findings demand is not general responses, but practical, targeted solutions,” he stated.
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) coverage should be increased, investments in safe water and sanitation should be accelerated, school retention initiatives should be strengthened, and skill development should be increased, according to the report’s top recommendations.
Source: newsthemegh.com