Ghana’s unemployment rate has been pegged at 3.90 percent in 2025
Unemployment remains one of the major challenges in Ghana. Despite the government’s efforts to address this issue, it continues to worsen.
But what exactly is unemployment? What are the metrics used to declare someone unemployed, and how is it calculated?
In this article, GhanaWeb Business sheds light on how the unemployment rate is calculated in the country, drawing insights from an interview with Dr. George Domfe, the Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP).
When calculating unemployment, it is expressed as the total number of people who are not working divided by the labour force, multiplied by 100%.
Currently, Ghana’s unemployment rate has been pegged at 3.90 percent in 2025.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the criteria for measuring unemployment include:
The person is not working.
The person is 15 years of age or older.
The person is ready and available to work.
The person has been actively seeking jobs.
The job-seeking process can take various forms, such as writing applications or physically moving from one office to another in search of employment opportunities.
However, many individuals become discouraged when they do not hear back from employers or institutions they applied to.
Instead of following up through emails, phone calls, or in-person visits, they give up and remain unemployed.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Ernestina Serwaa Asante on March 14, 2025, Dr. George Domfe explained that an individual becomes economically inactive if they are not actively seeking jobs, even if they are ready to work.
“Those considered economically inactive are typically incapacitated, sick, elderly, or very young. If you’re not chasing jobs, you fall into this category, and this reduces the size of the labour force,” Dr. Domfe stated.
He also commended the government’s initiative of introducing a 24-hour economy but highlighted a lack of clarity in the policy.
“I’m struggling to understand it. That said, I welcome anything that can create jobs for people. It’s disheartening to walk the streets and hear someone say they’ve been desperately searching for a job,” he remarked.
Dr. Domfe urged the government to provide clear guidelines and implement the programme promptly to address the high unemployment rate in the country.
SA/MA
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