Six districts in Ghana’s North East Region have been ranked as the poorest in the country despite a nationwide decline in poverty levels, according to the latest district-level poverty estimates released by the Ghana Statistical Service.
The report reveals widening regional disparities in living conditions, with the six most deprived districts all located in the North East Region, highlighting persistent development gaps between northern and southern Ghana.
Nassuam District recorded the highest poverty incidence nationwide at 51.6 percent in 2025, while several other districts in the region also featured among the country’s poorest.
In contrast, Ayawaso North Municipal in the Greater Accra Region recorded the lowest poverty incidence at 5.5 percent, reflecting stark inequalities between urban and rural communities.
According to the GSS, the estimates were generated using internationally recognised small area estimation methods, combining data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census, household income and expenditure surveys conducted between 2022 and 2024, and the 2025 Labour Force Survey across 13 wellbeing indicators.
The Statistical Service described the findings as Ghana’s most comprehensive district-level poverty analysis to date.
Despite the concerning disparities, the report noted that 250 out of Ghana’s 261 districts recorded improvements in multidimensional poverty between 2021 and 2025. Significant progress was recorded in parts of the Upper West and Ashanti regions, where some districts saw sharp declines in poverty levels.
However, poverty remains heavily concentrated in the North East, Northern, Savannah, Oti, Upper East, Upper West and Bono East regions.
The GSS is urging sustained policy interventions, targeted social investments and stronger oversight of development spending to ensure inclusive growth and reduce regional inequalities across the country.
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