The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has released its 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), revealing a substantial decrease in the number of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET).
According to the report, over 2 million Ghanaian youth aged 15-35 fall into the NEET category, with females accounting for 1.2 million and males 715,691. The Greater Accra Region leads with 565,360 NEET youth, followed by the Northeast Region.
Urban areas exhibit a higher NEET rate of 20.6% compared to 15.0% in rural areas. However, the overall NEET rate has shown improvement, dropping from 24.1% in Q3 2022 to 18.2% in Q3 2023, marking a significant 5.9 percentage point decline.
Despite the decrease in the NEET rate across most regions, Greater Accra saw a slight increase. Nearly half a million youth have transitioned out of the NEET category between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023.
The findings coincide with the 2024 World Youth Skills Day, emphasizing the pressing need for targeted interventions to enhance educational and employment opportunities for Ghanaian youth.
