Age Dependency Ratio

As shown in Table 2.2, the relationship between the populations aged 0-14 years and 65 years and above and the population aged 15-64 years constitute age dependency, measured per 100 population. The dependency ratio is calculated as population of those aged 0 -14 years and 65 years and older divided by the working population of persons aged 15 - 64 years. Dependent population is therefore those who rely on the working population for a living. That is, age groups 0-14 years (too young to work) and above 65 years (too old to work) and hence rely on the active age group 15-64 years for sustenance. The Municipal has age dependency ratio of 78.8. The District’s age dependency ratio of 78.8 means that every 100 persons in the working age group (15-64) has to take care of about 79 non-working-age persons. The dependency ratio seems to be higher (79.2) for females than males (78.4).

Fertility, Mortality and Migration

Fertility, mortality and migration are factors that influence population growth at a particular point in time. Data on these three components are critical for planning the overall socio-economic development of the District.

In this section, we examine the components of population change – fertility, mortality and migration. The interactions of these components determine the size and structure of population. While fertility causes an increase in the size of the population through births, mortality on the other hand leads to a reduction in the size of the population through deaths. Unlike fertility which causes an increase at only one point – births of persons aged zero, deaths can occur at any age, although the force of mortality is greater at the very young and older ages. Similarly, migration can occur at any age, but it is usually young adult males who move first and are often joined by their families. However, unlike fertility and mortality, migration affects the population size and structure of two Regions, the area of in-migration as well as the area of out-migration.

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of producing offspring. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential or the physiological capacity of a woman, man or couple to reproduce (International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, 1982).

The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is defined as the number of births in a given year divided by the number of people in the population in the middle of that year. The General Fertility Rate (GFR) is the number of births in a given year divided by the mid-year population of women in the age groups 15-49 times 1000. This analysis covered women between 15 and 49 years because women still have births after age 45. An age specific fertility rate (ASFR) is defined as the number of births to women of a given age group per 1,000 women in that age group. It is usually calculated for 5-year age groups from 15-19 years to 45-49 years.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) which is widely used in the analysis is the average number of live births among 1,000 women exposed throughout their childbearing years (15-49 years) to the schedule of a given set of age specific fertility rates, assuming no women died during the childbearing years. In other words, it is the average number of children a woman will have given birth to by the end of her reproductive years if current fertility rate prevails

Table 2.3 shows the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), General Fertility Rate (GFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) for women age 15-49 years for the region and the District. The TFR is 4.2 births per woman. This means that a woman in the District would have on the average 4 children in her lifetime. This is higher than the regional average of 3.6 births per woman.

Mortality

Data on mortality provide an indication of the health status of the population as well as measure of the living conditions of the people. It also provides information on the potential growth of the population in the future. Several interventions over the years, including enhancing access to quality health care services, improving food security and improving environmental conditions, among others have been done by government and development agencies to reduce the prevailing high levels of mortality. Mortality during the 2010 PHC took into consideration crude death rates and age specific death rate in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipal .

Alternatively, mortality refers to the incidence of death or the number of deaths in a population. Mortality Rates are generally expressed as the number of deaths per 1000 individuals per yearMortality data refers to all deaths that occurred in the household during the 12 months preceding the census night. The report shows information on deaths in household due to accidents, violence, homicide and suicide.

Table 2.5 presents information on the total population, death in households and crude death rate in Prestea Huni-Valley. Crude death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 in a given year. The Table shows that, deaths occurred in 974 households in the District as compared to deaths occurring in 14,825 households in the region. The crude death rate is slightly lower in the District (6.1) than the rate for the region (6.2).

Age-Specific Death Rates (ASDRS)

Age-specific death rate by sex is the number of deaths per age group by male and female populations. Figure 2.3 shows age specific death rates for the District. The age specific death rates for both females and males decrease to the lowest level between ages 5 and 19 years and then rise with advancement in age. The male age-specific death rates are, however, higher than that of the females. Between the ages 20-39, death rate of females and males is generally the same, except between the age groups 35-49 and 45-49, where those of females are higher than the opposite occurs such that that of the males rises higher from 50 years onwards.

Distribution on Causes of Death

Table 2.6 shows the number of deaths in households. According to the table, 974 deaths were recorded in households for the last 12 months. While the region recorded low percentages of 13.4 percent deaths due to accidents/homicide/suicide or violence, the District recorded a higher percentage (16.9%) of death due to accidents/homicide/suicide/violence.

Migration

The birth place of a person has been defined as the locality of usual residence of the mother at the time of birth. Table 2.7 shows Birthplace by duration of residence of migrants. The Table shows that, about four persons out of ten in the District were born outside the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipal (38.8%). It also depicts that three out of ten persons born outside the District are from other parts of the Western Region. This means that majority of them are from other Regions including a few from outside Ghana. In terms of numbers, the majority of them come from the Central Region, followed by those from Ashanti and finally those from the Eastern Region with the least coming from outside Ghana.

In terms of duration of residence, many of them have stayed in the District for less than one year whilst others have stayed for over 20 years. Majority of those who have stayed for over 20 years come from Eastern, Central and Ashanti Regions. For those who stayed for less than one year, majority of them come from the Upper West region. Again Upper West place second to the Upper East region for duration 1-4 years. Yet the Upper West region has the least percentage of those who have stayed between 10-19 years.