Nearly 2 million youth are currently not enrolled in education, employed, or undergoing training, according to the GSS.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has published the 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES) report, revealing that over 2 million young people aged 15-35 in Ghana are not engaged in education, employment, or training (NEET).

According to the survey, females constitute the majority at 1.2 million, compared to 715,691 males.

The Greater Accra Region records the highest number of NEET youth at 565,360, followed by the Northeast Region. Urban areas exhibit a higher youth NEET rate (20.6%) compared to rural areas (15.0%).

However, there has been a notable decrease in the NEET rate, from 24.1% in Q3 2022 to 18.2% in Q3 2023, indicating a 5.9 percentage point decline.

Although the NEET rate decreased in most regions, excluding Greater Accra, the total number of NEET youth dropped significantly by nearly half a million (462,998) between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023.

The 2024 World Youth Skills Day, themed ‘Youth Skills for Peace and Development,’ underscored the necessity for targeted interventions to address disparities in education, employment, and training opportunities among Ghanaian youth.