Introduction

A country’s population distribution influences its needs and wellbeing. Population size, composition and age-sex structures are critical in understanding the fertility, mortality and migration and other demographic processes underpinning population growth and ultimately socio-economic development of any country. The focus of this chapter is to analyze data on the population size, distribution, and age-sex structure in the Pru District
2.2 Population Size and Distribution

Population Size

The 2010 PHC puts the population of the Pru District at 129,248 with males constituting 50.9 percent and females 49.1 percent. The district has a population density of 40.1. Table 2.1 shows the population of Pru District by age, sex and type of locality. It also shows the age groups and their sex ratios as well as locality of residence. Sex ratio is defined as the number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio for the district is 103.8, implying that for every 100 females there are 103.8 males, that is to say males dominate females in the district. The sex ratio is highest among age group 55-59 constituting 131.1 meaning that for every 100 females in the district there are about 131 males. The age group with the lowest sex ratio is 26-29 constituting 81.9. What it means for this age group is that for 100 females in this age category, there are about 82 males. With respect to locality of residence, the district is largely rural as 63.1% of population in the district are located in the rural areas whiles 36.9% are in the urban areas. The rural population is almost twice that of urban population which requires that more development be geared towards rural areas in order to meet the needs of the majority of the population.

Age dependency

Dependency ratio explains the relative dependence of populations in dependent ages (persons under 15 years and 65 years and older) on those in the working age population, ages (15-64 years). Table 2.1 shows that, the district has a dependency ratio of 92.04 meaning approximately 100 persons in the productive ages have 92 persons to care for in the dependent population. Further from the table, it will be noticed that the child dependency ratio is 85.5 while that of the aged ones is 6.5. The child dependency ratio is high because there is a high proportion of the population 14 years or less, who are still dependent on the productive age group. The dependency ratio for the urban area is 77.37 and that of the rural areas is101.82.
 
Age-Sex Structure

Figure 2.1 is a pyramid representing the population structure of the district resulting from fertility, mortality and migration dynamics in the district. It is evident from the pyramid that, the bulk of the population is concentrated at the base (0-19 years). The population at the base forms 56.28 percent of the entire district population. The data further shows that children aged between five and nine years constitute the largest population. The population generally reduces from the base until it peaks at the top.
 
Fertility, Mortality and Migration

Fertility

Fertility refers to the number of live births women have. It is affected by many social, cultural, economic, health, and other environmental factors. Table 2.3 shows that out of a total population of 129,248, there are 30,261 women between the ages of 15-49 years. In last 12 months prior to 2010 population and housing census, there were reported 2,981 live births in the district. The district has a crude birth rate of 23.1 implying in every 1000 women there are 23 births in a year. It has a general fertility rate of 98.5 live births per 1000 women age 15-49. The total fertility rate of the district 3.4 is slightly lower than the regional 3.58 figure. General fertility and crude birth rates are quite lower than the regional values. The Total Fertility Rate which is 3.43 indicates that, averagely a woman is likely to have three children in her life time.

Table 2.3 presents female population 12 years and older by age, child ever born, children surviving and sex of child in the district. In all there are 40,707 females 12 years and older in the district with 111,823 births, constituting 56,902 males and 54,921 females. The number of children surviving out of children ever born stands at 96,110, of which 48,433 constitute males and 47,677 females meaning 5,073 children died. The data also shows that there are more males at birth than females but as the year advances, females tend to dominate the population suggesting there are more male infant mortalities than female infant mortalities.

Mortality

Mortality refers to all deaths that occurred in the household during the 12 months preceding the Census Night. Table 2.4 depicts the death in households and crude death rate by districts in Brong-Ahafo Region. However, reference is made to data for Pru District in relation to the regional values. From the table, there have been 351 reported deaths in households in the Pru district out of the total number of 14,189 recorded in all households in the region. The district also has a crude death rate of 2.72 per 1000 which is far lower than the regional crude death rate of 6.14 per 1000.

Table 2.6 presents information on deaths due to accidents, violence, homicide and suicide in the district. Pru district has the lowest number of deaths (351) compared with other districts in the region. Accident/violence/homicide/suicide accounts for 6.3 percent. 93.7 percent of all the deaths in the district are due to other causes.
 
Figure 2.2 shows the reported age-specific death by sex in the district. The under-five mortality rate is high. Figure 2.2 further illustrates a higher mortality within the age group of zero to nineteen is slightly higher for males than females but the pattern changes from the age 20 to 50 years when female mortality exceeds that of males. This is an indication of higher risk of mortality during child-bearing years. The pattern again changes markedly after 50 years when male mortality exceeds that of females.

Migration

The place of birth is important for understanding the internal movements of the population in any given country. Table 2.7 presents birthplace by duration of residence of migrants in the district.It shows that 73.3% of the population was born in the same locality whiles 5.2 of the population were born outside the district but in the Region. Approximately, 5.9 percent of migrants were born outside Ghana. A considerable number of the migrants in the district are from The Northern Region (10,627), Volta (5,952), Upper West (3,645) and Ashanti region (1,829). About 23% of these migrants have been living in the district for between 1-19 years.