Statistics from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) indicate that one
in every 10 (10.9%) adolescents aged 15 to 19 years have ever had a live birth.
The percentage of adolescents that have had a live birth increases with age, with 19-year-olds recording the highest rate of almost a quarter (23.8%).
In 10 out of the 16 regions, more than 10 percent of adolescents 15 to 19 years have had a live birth with the Bono East Region recording the highest, thus, one in every five (19.1%) girls in this age range having had a live birth. The Savannah (17.5%) and the North East (17.5%) regions are tied for the second highest followed by the Ashanti Region (16.8%).
The Greater Accra Region (5.4%) has the lowest percentage and is the only region to record a figure less than half the national average.
Ghana Statistical Service shared the statistics on adolescent childbearing on Wednesday October 11, 2023, which marks International Day of the Girl.
The percentage of girls 15 to 19 years old that have had a live birth is almost twice in rural
areas (14.4%) compared to urban (8.0%).
More than a quarter (26.5%) of adolescent girls with no education had had a live birth
compared to 20.3 percent of those with primary education. The percentage of girls with
secondary education (8.6%) who had a live birth was less than half of those with primary or no education.
Adolescent girls in households in the lowest wealth quintile (17.5%) had the highest
percentage with a live birth, more than four times the figure recorded for girls in the
highest wealth quintile (3.7%).
About one in every 10 (9.1%) adolescents aged 15 to 19 years had been in a marital union
during the 2021 Population and Housing Census: 5.5 percent were currently married, 3.2
percent were currently in informal unions or living with a partner, and 0.4 percent had
formerly been married.
International Day of the Girl is celebrated annually on 11th October to highlight challenges.
such as early marriage and childbearing, and deprivation of education that prevent young
girls from reaching their full potential. The theme for 2023 is “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our
Leadership, Our Well-being”.
The 2022 GDHS Key Indicators Report can be downloaded from www.statsghana.gov.gh.
Disaggregated statistics on girls can be accessed directly from the GSS StatsBank.