About 12 million Ghanaians were aged 15 to 35 in 2025, roughly one in every three people and the largest youth population in the country's history, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) says.
Many of them cannot find work. Unemployment averaged 32.4% among people aged 15 to 24 in the first three quarters of 2025, and 21.9% among those aged 15 to 35. The national rate was 12.8%.
The share of people aged 15 to 35 who were not in employment, education or training averaged 17.9%. It was 20.6% in urban areas, 18.0% in rural areas and 25.3% in the Central Region. Women made up more than 60% of this group.
Job quality is also a concern. About 65% of employed young people said their skills fitted their jobs, but only 58% said their level of education matched what the job required. More than 70% of all jobs were informal.
The figures come from Ghana in Numbers 2025, the new annual flagship publication of the GSS. The share of children aged 0 to 14 fell from 41.8% of the population in 2000 to 35.0% in 2025, so Ghana now has roughly as many people aged 15 to 35 as children. The GSS says the country's demographic window opened in the early 2000s and has been narrowing since 2019.
"Ghana's youth window is open, but it is closing," Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu said. "Our choices on schooling, skills and jobs in the next ten years will decide whether it becomes a dividend or a burden."