Ghana’s unemployment rate averaged 12.8 percent over the first three quarters of 2025, showing that joblessness remains a major challenge despite small improvements earlier in the year.
This is according to the latest Labour Statistics report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The data show that unemployment fell slightly from 12.8 percent in the first quarter to 12.6 percent in the second quarter, but then rose again to 13.0 percent in the third quarter, suggesting that job recovery remains weak and unstable.
The report also highlights a persistent gender gap, with women consistently facing higher unemployment than men.
On average, female unemployment exceeded male unemployment by 3.7 percentage points, narrowing slightly to 3.6 percentage points in the third quarter.
This continues to raise concerns about women’s access to jobs.
Unemployment was much higher in urban areas than in rural communities, reflecting intense competition for limited formal-sector jobs in cities.
Urban unemployment averaged 15.1 percent over the period, compared with 9.6 percent in rural areas.
The widest gap of 6.2 percentage points was recorded in the second quarter.
By the third quarter, urban unemployment stood at 15.4 percent, while rural unemployment was 9.8 percent, a gap of 5.6 percentage points.
Strong regional differences also remain.
The Western, Central, Greater Accra and Ashanti regions consistently recorded unemployment rates above the national average throughout the three quarters.
In the third quarter, when national unemployment reached 13 percent, all four regions exceeded this level, highlighting deep structural employment challenges in Ghana’s most economically active areas.
Despite these challenges, the report shows modest improvements in some regions between the second and third quarters.
Unemployment in Greater Accra declined from 20.2 percent to 19.6 percent, while the Volta Region fell from 11.9 percent to 11.4 percent.
The Bono Region improved from 10.0 percent to 9.4 percent, and the Northern Region from 7.8 percent to 7.4 percent.
