Population size and distribution, age-sex structure, migration, fertility and mortality are important population characteristics due to their implications for socio-economic development. Population size and composition influence the potential human resource requirement and the provision of social amenities and services such as schools, hospitals/clinics, water and sanitation facilities and housing. The population composition by age and sex influences mortality, nuptiality, fertility, migration and other demographic processes that underlie population growth and ultimately socio-economic development.

 Population Size and Distribution

The distribution of the population by age, sex and type of locality of residence is presented in Table 2.1. In terms of sex composition, males form 50.2 percent of the population; making Biakoye District one of the few districts in Ghana where males slightly outnumber females. Furthermore, about 22,373 (33.9%) of the population live in the rural areas. The sex ratio for the District is 100.6. This means that for every 100 females, there are about 101 males, indicating that there are more males than females in the District.

Table 2.1: Population by age, sex and type of locality

The 2010 PHC defined a household as a person or group of persons who live together in the same house or compound and share the same catering arrangement. Members of a household are not necessarily related by blood or marriage. The structure of a household is a reflection of the social structure, in that living arrangements are largely influenced by such social and cultural factors as marriage, types of family and kinship systems existing in a particular society.

Knowledge of household structure, composition, and headship provides important statistical tool for social and economic planning. In view of this, analysis of household data helps provide a sound basis for a reasonable projection of the future size of the population, and housing needs assessment.

This chapter highlights the features and relationship that exists among the people with regards to household size, household composition, headship, marital status, nationality, religious affiliation, literacy and education.

 Household Size

Table 3.1 shows that the District has a total household population of 65,435 with 22,107 in urban and 43,328 in rural areas. According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, there are 15,226 households in the District comprising of 5,146 urban households and 10,080 rural households. The mean/average number of households per house is 1.2 for the District. The average household size in the District (4.3 persons) is the same for both urban and rural areas.

 Household size by locality