According to the 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), a staggering 2 million young Ghanaians aged 15-35 are neither in education, employment, nor training (NEET).
The survey reveals a significant gender disparity, with females making up the bulk of this demographic, totaling 1.2 million, compared to 715,691 males. This alarming trend highlights a critical need for targeted interventions to address the challenges faced by Ghana’s youth.
The Greater Accra Region has the highest concentration of young people neither in education, employment, nor training (NEET), with a total of 565,360, followed closely by the Northeast Region. Urban areas have a higher NEET rate, standing at 20.6%, compared to rural areas, which have a rate of 15.0%. However, there has been a notable improvement, with the overall NEET rate decreasing significantly from 24.1% in the third quarter of 2022 to 18.2% in the third quarter of 2023, representing a 5.9 percentage point drop.
Despite a regional exception in Greater Accra, the national trend shows a significant improvement, with a substantial reduction of nearly half a million (462,998) young people neither in education, employment, nor training (NEET) between the third quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023. This progress is reflected in the decreased NEET rates across all regions, with the exception of Greater Accra.
World Youth Skills Day is commemorated annually on 15th July to highlight the importance of providing youth with the relevant skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. The 2024 World Youth Skills Day, themed “Youth Skills for Peace and Development”, shed light on the urgent need for tailored solutions to address the prevailing inequalities in access to education, employment, and training opportunities for young Ghanaians.