Population: 18,887,626 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 42% (male 4,020,493; female 3,982,816)
15-64 years: 54% (male 5,050,736; female 5,231,951)
65 years and over: 4% (male 284,423; female 317,207) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.05% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 31.79 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 10.4 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.88 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 76.15 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 57.14 years
male: 55.08 years
female: 59.27 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.11 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Ghanaian(s)
adjective: Ghanaian

Ethnic groups: black African 99.8% (major tribes—Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%), European and other 0.2%

Religions: indigenous beliefs 38%, Muslim 30%, Christian 24%, other 8%

Languages: English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 64.5%
male: 75.9%
female: 53.5% (1995 est.)