The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed a downturn in Ghana’s unemployment rate, which currently stands at 13.1% as of the end of 2024.

Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, in a video shared on the Service’s Facebook page last Friday, said, “The national unemployment rate declined from 13.3% in quarter three of 2024 to 13.1% in quarter four.”

The figures are captured in the latest Quarterly Labour Statistics Report of the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), which was released on Thursday, August 28, 2025.

According to the report, 409,000 new jobs were created in the last quarter of 2024. Despite this growth, the Ghana Statistical Service has expressed concern about the expansion of the informal sector compared to the formal sector.

“Employment is growing, but too many jobs remain informal and insecure. The disparities, especially among young people, are still stark,” Dr. Iddrisu stressed.

The report also acknowledged that youth unemployment remains a pressing concern, with 32% of those aged 15–24 jobless in 2024, 22.5% in the 15–35 bracket, and young people making up seven out of ten unemployed Ghanaians.

To tackle the challenge, Dr. Iddrisu proposed strengthening apprenticeship and placement schemes, tailoring TVET reforms to labour market demands, and widening access to affordable credit for small enterprises. He further appealed to the private sector to create structured internships and entry-level jobs and encouraged development partners to channel investments into rural employment and scalable youth-focused initiatives.

“Addressing youth and long-term unemployment, bridging regional disparities, and formalising informal work must remain urgent national priorities,” he added.

Unemployment and youth unemployment are among the major issues the incumbent government led by President John Dramani Mahama seeks to address to aid the recovery of the Ghanaian economy.

In light of this, the government has introduced several initiatives, including the Adwumawura Programme, to fight youth unemployment and boost entrepreneurship. President John Dramani Mahama, on Monday, April 28, launched the programme at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi.

The Adwumawura Programme, according to its design, will "create, mentor, and support at least 10,000 businesses annually," focusing specifically on young people aged 18 to 35. Participants will benefit from skills training, mentorship, start-up capital, and equipment to help them build sustainable businesses.

During his address, President Mahama described youth unemployment as "one of Ghana’s most pressing challenges" and reiterated his administration’s commitment "to create decent and sustainable jobs for young people," aligning with the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s vision of economic growth and innovation.

Funding for the initiative has been secured through a GH₵100 million provision in the 2025 Budget Statement, delivered by Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson. To complement Adwumawura, the government has also implemented the National Apprenticeship Programme, which provides free technical and vocational training opportunities for the youth.

More than 150,000 Ghanaians have enrolled in the National Apprenticeship Programme, organised by the National Youth Authority (NYA). The NYA had initially projected 10,000 participants for the first phase of the initiative.

Launched on March 19, the National Apprenticeship Programme is managed by the NYA and focuses on delivering hands-on vocational and technical training. It also supports individuals recovering from substance abuse and those affected by illegal mining activities, offering them a renewed path toward sustainable livelihoods.

In addition, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko has highlighted the government's plan to leverage Ghana’s emerging pharmaceutical industry to boost employment and economic development.

“With the establishment of a pharmaceutical hub in Ghana, supported by GAVI, we aim to create employment opportunities and add value to our local resources—a crucial step for the Ghanaian economy,” he noted.

Speaking during a courtesy call by Dr. Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiatives (GAVI), in May this year, the Deputy Minister stated that the creation of a pharmaceutical hub is a key component of Ghana’s long-term health and industrial strategy.

To augment local efforts to address the unemployment situation in the country, the government of Ghana is also working to export a considerable portion of Ghana’s labour force.

As such, the Ministry of Labour, Jobs & Employment, in partnership with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and GIZ Ghana, launched the Work Abroad Programme in May. The programme is structured to equip Ghanaian youth with the essential skills, guidance, and support needed to secure overseas employment.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health, Honourable Mintah Akandoh, has revealed that the government is engaging countries interested in importing Ghanaian health workers. To this end, a short-term intensive course is being designed to elevate the average health personnel to become experts.

Engaging the media, the Health Minister explained that the collaboration has become necessary due to the high demand for health experts by other international countries in need of Ghanaian health workers.

According to Honourable Mintah Akandoh, the exportation of health workers—what he refers to as the “managed migration” approach—forms part of the two measures being put in place by the government to reduce the number of unemployed health personnel in the country.

He remarked: "Ghana government is going to engage other countries to export health workers. About 13 countries have responded, and we are now agreeing on our MoUs. But there is a challenge; the challenge is that if you look at the requests from the various countries and even our own (African) countries, the request is higher when it comes to specialists than general nurses.”

“We cannot decide to give them all our specialists. What we are doing at the moment is that we are engaging them, looking at how we can bring lots of specialists. Instead of taking you probably about 2 years to become a specialist, we are engaging the institutions to come up with a crash programme, not more than six (6) months. It does not mean that we are going to compromise on the quality.

“It is going to be very intensive. For example, if you were going to do two contact hours a day, you are going to do four or five. We use that approach to solve a particular problem so if we run it for about two to three times and we think the problem has been solved, we return to the former system,” he further explained.

According to the Minister for Health, the country has not less than 70,000 health professionals sitting at home, unemployed. One of the two approaches to reduce the number of unemployed health workers involves the government increasing its recruitment.

"In the 2026 budget, we are looking at the government giving us some clearance to be able to recruit more, and they will spread it across the pharmacists and nurses so that every cadre will be able to get that kind of equitable distribution of recruitment,” Honourable Mintah Akandoh said.