Ghana

AfricaCapital city: AccraCapital metro: AccraPresident: John Mahama
2026 population
34.4M
Rank #45 globally
Area
239k km² (92k sq mi)
Metros tracked
10
37% of population in metros
Composite score
10.8
Rank #95 globally

population: National annual projection (1 Jul 2026) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 10 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography10 metros

Ghana metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
10 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 10 tracked metros
10 metros
#376Accra★ Capital▲ Largest
Greater Accra · Central · 6.2M · Established Metro
7.0
#875Kumasi
Ashanti · 3.7M · Emerging Metro
2.1
#1935Tamale
Northern · 716K · Local Metro
0.5
Western · 419K · Local Metro
0.4
#2109Sunyani
Bono · 330K · Local Metro
0.4
Upper West · 298K · Local Metro
0.3
Volta · 180K · Local Metro
0.3
#3049Aflao
Volta · 368K · Local Metro
0.1
#3176Obuasi
Ashanti · 246K · Local Metro
0.1
Central · 190K · Local Metro
0.1
🗂️ Regions

16 entries listed under Ghana. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

16 total
📋 At a glance
Official language
English
Government
Democracy
Legislature
Parliament of Ghana
Demonym
Ghanaian
Time zone
UTC±00:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+233
Internet TLD
.gh
ISO 3166
GH
Established
1957
Highest point
Mount Afadja (2,904 m (9,528 ft))
National anthem
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Ghana

Akan first; 3 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Akan39%Regional
English21%Official
Ewe11%Regional
Abron5%None
Farefare3.5%None
Adangme3%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
21%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
4.7
Official-language gap
79%
English is spoken by 21%

Ghana on the languages board · Language power

📰 In the news1 story
Every story in the latest digest →
💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#142 / 191
0.628
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#68 / 193
$114.2B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#136 / 193
$3.3k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#135 / 190
$8.6k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#147 / 192
$2.6k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#167 / 194
65.7 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
20.9 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#113 / 194
59%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.8%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#61 / 193
148/km² (385/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#142 / 193
1.5%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#87 / 175
0.57
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#141 / 166
43.5
World Bank · 2016
Internet users
#117 / 193
72%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#171 / 185
14.2%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#42 / 192
0.6 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#88 / 186
36%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships

Political & Economic

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History14 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file.

Fourth Republic

John Mahama✦ Current
President · National Democratic Congress · 2025-present
2025–Present
Nana Akufo-Addo
President · New Patriotic Party · 2017-2025
2017–2025
John Mahama
President · National Democratic Congress · 2012-2017
2012–2017
John Atta Mills
President · National Democratic Congress · 2009-2012
2009–2012
John Kufuor
President · New Patriotic Party · 2001-2009
2001–2009

PNDC military rule then Fourth Republic

Jerry Rawlings
President · PNDC / National Democratic Congress · 1981-2001
1981–2001

Third Republic

Hilla Limann
President · People's National Party · 1979-1981
1979–1981

Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (military, first rule)

Jerry Rawlings
President · Military (AFRC) · 1979
1979–1979

Supreme Military Council (military)

Fred Akuffo
President · Military (Supreme Military Council) · 1978-1979
1978–1979

National Redemption Council / Supreme Military Council (military)

Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
President · Military (NRC / SMC) · 1972-1978
1972–1978

Second Republic

Edward Akufo-Addo
President · Progress Party (ceremonial) · 1970-1972
1970–1972

National Liberation Council (military)

Akwasi Afrifa
President · Military (National Liberation Council) · 1969-1970
1969–1970
Joseph Arthur Ankrah
President · Military (National Liberation Council) · 1966-1969
1966–1969

First Republic

Kwame Nkrumah
President · Convention People's Party · 1960-1966
1960–1966
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#88 · 0.1%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts1 interstate war · click to expand
Anti-Doe Armed Forces elements,NPFL,INPFL (1989–1992),NPFL-CRC (1994–1996),Libya,Burkina Faso,RUF
Combat deaths: 15,750+

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.” Figures marked “COW battle deaths” are Correlates of War battle-death counts, which run lower than total deaths.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
33.8m
#46 in the world
Since 1800
17×
from 2.0m
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.42%
0.20% in 1800
8.9m17.8m26.8m35.7m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Ghana: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
50.6m
95% band 41.8m to 62.1m
2100
67.5m
95% band 36.5m to 143m
2100 against 2025
1.93×
median still rising in 2100
37.5m75.0m113m150m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
244k born · 115k died · +14k net migration
TFR 6.70 · life expectancy 43.1 · median age 17.7
1960
351k born · 134k died · +12k net migration
TFR 6.89 · life expectancy 46.9 · median age 16.7
1970
426k born · 168k died · -10k net migration
TFR 6.95 · life expectancy 47.9 · median age 14.9
1980
527k born · 180k died · -14k net migration
TFR 6.47 · life expectancy 51.1 · median age 15.6
1990
623k born · 181k died · -47k net migration
TFR 5.74 · life expectancy 55.4 · median age 16.1
2000
705k born · 196k died · -4k net migration
TFR 4.83 · life expectancy 58.1 · median age 17.3
2010
832k born · 219k died · -4k net migration
TFR 4.18 · life expectancy 61.3 · median age 19.2
2020
875k born · 237k died · -291 net migration
TFR 3.54 · life expectancy 64.3 · median age 20.4

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Ghana on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.

National Teams Champions

Every major championship won by Ghana's national teams, newest first. 4 in total.

1982· 1982-03-19
1978· 1978-03-16
1965· 1965-11-21
1963· 1963-12-01