Date Published | 2011 |
Version | |
Primary Author | UN Habitat |
Other Authors | |
Theme | |
Country | Ghana |
Ghana has a population of 24.2 million of whom just over half live in urban areas. After a long period of postindependence political uncertainty, Ghana has settled down into a long period of steady growth. Its GDP per capita in 2009 was US$716, with a real GDP growth per annum of 4.7 per cent in 2010. Even while it was a “Highly Indebted Poor Country”, economic growth and inward remittances continued to rise. It is now classed as middle income. Its cities are growing rapidly; at 1.6 million and 1.2 million respectively, the cities of Accra and Kumasi are dominant, being five and four times as large as the next largest, Sekondi-Takoradi. In the latter, oil exploration and exploitation are likely to impose growth drivers which will affect housing very considerably in the near future. This profile is based on detailed reports of the major sectors contributing to housing and a specially commissioned sample survey of urban households in the four largest cities.