The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has released the July 2025 edition of its Quarterly Labour Statistics, showing a marginal drop in the national unemployment rate.
According to Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, data collected from over 9,000 households across the country revealed that Ghana’s unemployment rate fell from 13.3% in the third quarter of 2024 to 13.1% in the fourth quarter.
“This modest decline signals progress but highlights persistent distress. Youth unemployment remains alarmingly high—22.5% for ages 15 to 35 and 32% for ages 15 to 24,” Dr. Iddrisu stated.
He noted that this persistent youth joblessness underscores the urgent need to expand employment opportunities and implement targeted labour market policies, such as retraining and re-skilling programs to address skills mismatches.
Highlighting ongoing initiatives, Dr. Iddrisu cited the 24-hour economy policy as a potential measure to absorb the growing youthful labour force. He further recommended scaling up apprenticeships, graduate employment schemes, and job placement services.
“Government should also reform and expand TVET to align training with industry demand, particularly in digital, industrial, and green economy sectors, and provide affordable credit to small businesses to boost job creation, especially for women and youth,” he added.
While Ghana’s overall unemployment shows slight improvement, the persistently high rate of youth joblessness calls for targeted policies, skills development, and expanded economic opportunities to sustainably address the challenge.
Source: Helen Naa Kai Aryee
