Faith Nyasuguta
A new report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has sounded the alarm over the country’s worsening urban housing crisis, revealing that about 4.8 million Ghanaians, nearly one in every three urban dwellers, live in slums or informal settlements.
The Slums and Informal Settlements Report, which draws on Ghana’s 2021 Population and Housing Census data, shows that approximately 30.8% of urban residents meet at least one UN-Habitat slum household condition – lack of improved water, sanitation, sufficient living area, durable housing or secure tenure.
According to the GSS, this figure is higher than the global average of 24.7%, pointing to severe gaps in Ghana’s urban planning and housing delivery. The regions most affected include Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Northern Region, where rapid urbanization and rural-to-urban migration have outpaced infrastructure development. In Greater Accra alone, more than half of slum households live in rented dwellings, a figure mirrored by Ashanti Region at over 51%.
This means thousands of families live in overcrowded, unsafe structures, paying rent for homes that barely meet basic living standards.
The report also highlights worrying social inequalities between slum and non-slum residents. Multidimensional poverty in slum settlements stands at 23.4%, more than double the 10.5% recorded in non-slum areas. Indicators like literacy, school attendance, access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare are significantly lower in slums.
Fertility rates are higher too, averaging 2.9 children per woman in slums compared to 2.5 elsewhere, and spiking to 4.1 in Northern Region slums.
Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu described the findings as a “wake-up call” for local authorities and policymakers. He stressed that the data should not gather dust but be used to guide integrated urban planning, budgeting and slum upgrading initiatives. He further warned that failing to address the problem now risks locking millions into cycles of urban poverty and inequality.
GSS recommends urgent investments in affordable housing, better access to water and sanitation, improved waste management, and expanded social services in urban poor communities. The report also urges policymakers to pay closer attention to family planning and reproductive health services to tackle the high fertility rates driving population growth in these areas.
Ghana’s government says it will use the findings to review its urban housing policies and push for sustainable solutions in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11, which calls for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. As urbanization accelerates, the report is a sobering reminder that Ghana’s dream of modern cities cannot be realized while millions remain trapped in sprawling slums.
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