Nationality
Ghanaians by birth and parenthood constitute 94.0 per cent of the population of the region. This is
higher than the national proportion of 92.2 per cent. Naturalized Ghanaians constitute an additional
3.4 per cent, while other ECOWAS nationals make up 1.9 per cent with other Africans and nonAfricans being 0.8 per cent. The sex-composition of Ghanaians by birth indicates that there are more
female Ghanaians by birth than males, while there are male non-Ghanaians than females.
Migration
Nearly 71 per cent of the population are born in the localities where they were enumerated, with a
further 7.5 per cent born in another locality within the region. The rest of the population originate
from outside the region, with most of them from the regions which share border with the region.
Favourable climatic conditions, abundance of arable land and proximity may be factors that attract
people from the north.
Ethnicity
The predominant ethnic group is the Akan, (62.7%) followed by the Mole-Dagbon (15.4%) and Grusi
(4.2%), as shown in Figure 1.1. Within the Akan group, the Brong (Bono, including Banda) are the
largest subgroup (61.4%), followed by the Asante (13.3%) and Ahafo (9.5%). Among constituents of
the Mole-Dagbon group, the Dagaaba are the largest (44%) subgroup.
Religious affiliation
Christianity has the largest following (71.0%), followed by Islam (16.1%) and traditional religion
(4.6%). A significant proportion (7.8%) reported affiliation with no religion. Catholics are the largest
denomination of the Christian faith (22.6%), followed by Pentecostal/ Charismatic (20.8%) and
Protestant (17.0%). More females (73.5%) than males (68.2%) profess the Christian faith. The reverse
is true for Islam, traditional religion and those with no religion.
Literacy
Education forms an important determinant of the quality of manpower. As such, the educational level
of the population, to some extent, reflects the level of social and economic development of a country
or a community. It is also well known that education constitutes one of the most important factors
influencing demographic behaviour and the level of fertility of a population. Statistics on literacy
provide a measure of progress in the educational development and are necessary in planning for the
promotion of adult literacy. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write in any language and
relates to those aged 15 years and older. 48.5 per cent of the population of the region, aged 15 years
and older, are not literate. This picture is only better than that of the three Northern Regions where
the illiteracy level is more than 70.0 per cent.
Since much information is written and transmitted in English, effective literacy level is based on those
literate in English and a Ghanaian language. This means that effective literacy level for the region is
49.0 per cent, which is lower than the national average of 54.5 per cent. Information flow in terms of
posters, brochures, and written adverts will seriously be hampered because of the low literacy level.
The differences between male and female literacy levels. There are significant differences between
the sexes in the not literate and the literate in English and Ghanaian Language groups. Among the
males, 41.1 per cent are illiterates, which is far lower than that of females (56.0%)