Fitch Solutions Forecasts Ghana’s Unemployment to Remain at 4% Through 2026
Unemployment in Ghana is projected to remain steady at an average of 4.0% of the labour force in 2024, with the same rate expected to persist through 2025 and 2026, according to a recent report by Fitch Solutions.
The UK-based firm notes that the unemployment rate has been gradually increasing since 2017 and is anticipated to follow this upward trajectory in the medium to long term.
Fitch attributes the labour market’s stagnation in part to the country’s low life expectancy—currently around 64.3 years—due to inadequate government expenditure on healthcare, the prevalence of water-borne diseases, and chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS.
Additionally, a shortage of highly skilled workers has forced employers to import talent from abroad to fill critical gaps in the domestic workforce.
In its broader economic outlook, Fitch highlighted that inflationary pressures are being driven by a combination of demand-pull and cost-push factors, exacerbated by the global economic reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Central banks have responded by raising interest rates at an unprecedented pace, reducing the value of debt accumulated during the low-interest-rate period of 2015-2019.
While household wealth has reached historic highs, buoyed by equity market gains and rising house prices, signs of weakening in certain property markets are emerging.
Should this trend accelerate, Fitch warns that a significant decline in consumer wealth could lead to a sharp contraction in consumption, further dampening the country’s economic prospects.
