The World Bank says Ghana’s improving economic conditions, including lower inflation and stronger economic growth, have started to ease financial pressures on households, but poverty remains significantly higher in the country’s three northern regions.
According to the Bank, population growth could nevertheless mean that the absolute number of people living in poverty continues to increase, despite the gradual decline in the poverty rate.
The World Bank said sustained poverty reduction would depend on faster job creation and improved productivity across agriculture, manufacturing and services.
It also called for a stronger social protection system, anchored by the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, to provide timely and targeted assistance to vulnerable households.
The World Bank made the observations in its 10th Economic Update on Ghana for August, titled “Reset for Growth: Sustaining Macroeconomic Recovery and Unlocking Transport for Transformation.”
The report estimates that Ghana’s poverty rate at the lower-middle-income country (LMIC) threshold of US$4.20 per person per day, based on 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP), increased to 56.8 percent in 2024.
The Bank attributed the increase largely to high inflation, which peaked at 54 percent and significantly weakened household purchasing power and real incomes.
However, the easing of inflation since 2024 has started to reverse the trend. The poverty rate is estimated to have declined marginally to 56.4 percent in 2025 and is projected to fall further to 55.1 percent in 2026 and 54.3 percent by 2027.
Despite the projected improvement, the Bank noted that poverty remains disproportionately concentrated in Ghana’s three northern regions.
It cautioned that the number of poor people could still rise because of rapid population growth, limited employment opportunities and economic expansion that has not generated enough broad-based jobs.
The World Bank stressed that macroeconomic recovery on its own would not be sufficient to tackle the country’s poverty challenges.
It said Ghana would need more inclusive economic growth, stronger social protection programmes such as LEAP, and structural transformation in agriculture and manufacturing to achieve sustained poverty reduction.
The report also warned that rising global tensions could undermine progress in reducing poverty by contributing to slower economic growth, renewed inflationary pressures and declining remittance inflows.
The Bank further estimated that “Each one-percentage-point increase in inflation could push approximately 125,000 additional Ghanaians below the LMIC poverty line.”
By: Prince Martey-Sogar