Population Size

The district’s population in terms of its numbers, age structure and sex distribution reflects on indicators such as growth rate, doubling time, labour force and dependency ratio. Changes in any population are brought about through the dynamics of fertility, mortality and migration. Knowledge and understanding of the age and sex structure of a population is very useful in planning, resource allocation and provision of solutions to socio-economic problems.

According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the District has a population of 59,068 comprising 28,766 (48.7%) males and 30,302 (51.3%) females. The District has an average population growth rate of 1.4 percent per annum.

Age-sex structure, sex ratios and population pyramid

The age structure and the sex composition of the population of the district follow the region and the national pattern. The age structure is broad at the base and reduces gradually in the subsequent age groups until the population becomes relatively small at the top.

Age-sex structure

Table 2.1 provides information on the age and sex composition by five years age groups for the district. In addition to the absolute numbers, the table provides derived useful information for data users. For example, the data shows that, the age-based dependent population is about fifty percent (50.4%) of the total population of the district.

Percentages computed from Table 2.1 shows a relatively large proportion of children (13.1%) below five years. The population below 15 years (0-14) is 38.5 percent. Youth between the ages of 15-19 comprise 11.1 percent of the total population. The total population 15-64 years (theoretically referred to as the labour force) make up more than half (57.0%) of the total population implying a large base of population available to be harnessed for productive work.

Taking the population in that age group only, more than two thirds (67.2%) is below 30 years; while 13.1 percent is between the ages of 30-39 years. Almost nine percent (8.5%) is between 40-49 years and 11.1 percent is above fifty years. Significantly therefore, the data shows that 73.5 percent of the population referred to as the labour force is below forty years.

The older persons 65 years and older constitute 4.5 percent of the entire district population. In relation to the sex structure, females consist of 51.3 percent and males 48.7 percent. However, there are more males (39.8%) than females (37.2%) who are under 15 years in the district just as was observed for the region (males, 41.6%, females, 39.1%). On the hand, the proportion of females (57.5%) within the economically active age group (15-64) is a little higher than males (56.5%).

The urban-rural distribution according to age do not follows a similar pattern as the sex structure. A large proportion of both urban (57.7%) and rural (56.4%) dwellers are within the economically active age group of 15-64. This is followed by the population in the age group 0-14 representing 38.0 percent and 38.8 percent for urban and rural respectively.

Just like the pattern for the age structure for the population in the age group 15-64 years, a greater proportion of both urban (50.8%) and rural (50.1%) dwellers are below thirty years. Also, those above age 50 in the labour force are relatively small. That is 10.8 percent for urban and 12.3 percent for rural.

Sex ratio

Sex ratio refers to as the number of males per 100 females.  The sex ratio at birth for most countries is about 105 or 106 males per 100 females. After birth, sex ratio varies because of different patterns of mortality and migration for males and females within the population. Sex ratios that are higher than 100 indicate that there are more males than females but sex ratios under 100 indicate that there are more females than males.

Throughout life, it is expected that at every age, mortality rates for females will be lower than that of males. Therefore the sex ratio(s) for any population should decline from one age group to the other with advancing age.

Table 2.1 shows that the overall sex ratio for the Techiman North District is about 95 males to 100 females (94.9), which means that females are about five percent more than males. The sex ratio of the District is nearly the same as the regional figure of 94.0. The subsequent sex ratios after the overall sex ratio of 94.9 do not follow the expected pattern of steady and gradual decline with advancing age. The large and fluctuating sex ratios after age 5-9 years and the steep decline after age 55-59 may suggest age misreporting, under-enumeration, out- migration or differential mortality.

The Table 2.1 also reveals that the sharp declines in sex ratios after age 55-59 give credence to the assertion that more females survive with advancing age than males.

Age-dependency ratio

The dependency ratio is the ratio of persons in dependent ages (0-14 years) and 65 years and older to those in the productive ages (15 to 64 years) measured per 100 population. This is the theoretical definition of age dependency. For instance much of the population of the district 15-19 years (11.1%) are in practice dependent because they are often in school. Equally, not everybody 65 years and over (4.5%) are dependent as can be seen from the aged farmers and other artisans in the district.

The population aged 0-14 and 65 and over constitute 25,383 (42.9%) whiles those aged 15-64 constitute 33.685 (57.1%). The dependency ratio for the district is 75.4. This indicates that there are approximately 75 persons in the dependent ages for every 100 persons in the working ages (15-64 years). The dependency ratio among the male population is higher (77.0%) than that of the female (73.8%).

Child dependency ratio (0-14 divided by population 15-64 years) for the district is 67.5 percent with a higher proportion (70.4%) of males than the females (64.6%) compared to old age dependency ratio (65+ divided by population 15-64 years) of  (7.9%). In terms of localities, the dependency ratio in the rural areas is higher (77.2%) than in the urban areas (73.4%).

Table 2.2 further shows the age dependency ratio by localities, indicating an urban age dependency ratio of 73.4 with rural age dependency of 77.2.

Population Pyramid

A population pyramid is a graphical representation of the age-sex composition of a population and its shape is influenced by the levels of fertility, mortality, migration and coverage and content errors such as digit preference and exaggeration (age misrepresentation) of age. The broadness of the base is determined by the level of fertility, while the shape is determined by mortality and to some extent migration.

Figure 2.1 is a pyramid representing the structure of the total population by sex of the Techiman North District in 2010.In general, the population pyramid reflects a broad-base pattern, characteristic of a developing nation with over half of its population for males (51.1%) and close to half of the population for females (48.1%) being young and under 20 years of age.

This type of age structure has a built-in momentum for the growth of the country’s population. When the young population eventually reaches reproductive age, the result will be a high population growth rate for some years to come. However, if the socio-economic potentials of the youth are properly harnessed and directed, they could contribute significantly to development of the district and the nation as a whole.

A wider bar in the pyramid indicates a more people in an age group whiles a narrow bar indicates less people in an age group. The pyramid generally shows the expected pattern of declines in the length of the bars for each group with advancing age. However, some ages do not follow this expected pattern. For instance, in Figure 2.1, the bars for the age group 5-9 years are shorter than those for the age group 10-14 for females and 65-69 years are shorter than those for 70-74 years for both males and females.

Population Density

In terms of density with a land surface area of 389.40940 square kilometres and a population size of 59,068 the population density of the district is approximately 152 persons per square kilometre. This figure indicates that the district has a high population density and densely populated. The high population density has it attendant effects on the district. This leads to pressure on the few social amenities such as schools, water, health facilities and sanitation.

Population by Settlement

The District contains about 65 settlements; most of the settlements are located along the two (2) main arterial roads in the District, that is, the Techiman-Wenchi and Techiman-Kintampo routes. The increase in the size of urban population may also be as a result of rural-urban migration due largely to unequal distribution of socio-economic resources. Policy makers need to make conscious effort to address the issue of lopsided development planning activities to avoid over concentration of social amenities in few urban centres.

Table 1.9 depicts the spatial distribution of population of selected settlements; in the Techiman North District.

Household Size, Household Composition and Headship 

A household is defined as a person or group of persons who live together in the same house or compound and share the same house-keeping arrangement. Members of a household may not necessarily be related by blood or marriage.

The household head on other hand is also defined as a male or female member of the household recognized as such by the other household members. The head of household is generally the person who has economic and social responsibility for the household and all relationships are also defined with reference to the head.

Number of Households and Household size

Table 3.1 presents the distribution of household size in the Techiman North District by locality. From 2010 Population and Housing Census results, the district recorded a total household population of 58,701 with 13,490 households, which translates to an average household size of 4.3 persons in each household. This is about the same as the regional average of 4.6.  The rural average household size (4.4) is about the same as that of the urban areas (4.3). More than half (51.5%) of the total number of households in the district are found in the rural areas and 48.5 percent in the urban areas. Also, the percentage of households in the rural areas (51.1%) is higher than in the urban areas (48.9%).

Household composition

Household composition refers to the patterns of relationships between the head of household and other members of the household. The head by definition need not be the oldest person in the house or the person who is financially responsible for the upkeep of the family. It is rather the person who all members of the household recognize as their head, regardless of age and sex. This includes relationships such as spouse (wife/husband), child (son/daughter), grandchild, parent/parent-in-law, brother/sister, other relative and non-relative.

Table 3.2 shows that there are 13,490 (23.0%) household heads. Horizontal percentages calculated for the heads reveal that, male headed households constitute 64.8 percent while female headed households represent 35.2 percent. Thus, there are nearly twice as many male household heads than females in the Techiman North District. Biological children constitute the largest percentage of household members (43.4%) followed by the head of households (23.0%), Spouse (husband/wife) constitutes 10.5 percent while other family members (grandchildren, brother/sister and other relatives of the head) together comprise 18.7 percent. Adopted/foster children are the least (0.3%). The proportion of female spouses of (19.8%)  is over ten times higher than that of males (0.8%).

Fertility, Mortality and Migration

Migration along with fertility and mortality accounts for the primary components of population change.

Fertility

Fertility is one of the most important components of demographic change. It is the frequency of childbearing among the population. Fertility rates measure the relative frequency with which births occur within a given population.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children that would be born to a woman by the time she completes childbearing if she were to experience the prevailing age-specific fertility rate. There are other fertility measures such as Crude Birth Rate (CBR), General Fertility Rate (GFR) among others.

The CBR is the simplest and most frequently used measure of fertility. It is easy to calculate because it requires only the total number of births and the total population. It is crude and always expressed per 1000 population. It is crude because it includes all ages and both sexes in the denominator. There is no attempt to relate the births to the women at risk of having those births. Because of this it is not a good measure of fertility at all.

The GFR expresses births relative to the number of women in the reproductive age. More data are required to calculate the GFR than the CBR because one has to know the age and sex composition of the population. The GFR is affected by age structure since there may be substantial variations between populations within the reproductive age range.

The TFR on the other hand, is a measure of fertility that is most widely used by demographers. It is calculated by adding up the Age Specific Fertility Rates (ASFR) and is always expressed as per one woman. It is a single figure measure that is independent of age structure.

According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the total number of women in the child bearing age (15-49) years is at 15,421 which represents 26.1 percent of the total population of the district. The number of birth given in the last 12 months is 1,619 in the district.

The Total Fertility Rate in the Techiman North District for women aged 15-49 years is 3.5 births per woman which means that every woman in the reproductive age have averagely 3.5 children (almost 4 children) in her lifetime.

Also, the General Fertility Rate for the Brong Ahafo region is 105.9 and it is a little higher than the GFR for the district (105.0).  

The Crude Birth Rate for the Brong Ahafo Region indicates that, for every 1,000 population, there are approximately 26 live births which is below the Crude Birth Rate for the District of 27 live births.

There are marginal differences in TFR, GFR and CBR between the District and the region by way of comparing them.

Age specific death and sex

Figure 2.2 shows reported age specific death rates by sex. According to the 2010 PHC, there are 427 deaths in the Techiman North District. The rate is high at birth for the population below five years with female deaths slightly higher than the males. This could be due to the fact that children are more susceptible to sickness at that tender age.

The male mortality rate recorded the lowest in the age 20-24 years while female mortality rate recorded the lowest in the age 10-14. Male mortality remains high through to age 44 years. The male mortality then drops sharply at age 55-59 years and increases sharply from 60-64 years, slows down slightly from age 65-69 and rises steadily and peaks at age 70 years and above. Female deaths also decline at age 50-54 years. From age 55 years female mortality rate increases at a faster rate and remains high whereas that of the male picks up momentum at age 60 after five years.

Causes of deaths

Table 2.6 presents the cause of death in the district. Out of a total of 427 deaths recorded in the district, 8.2 percent are due to accident/violence/homicide/suicide. The district’s percentage of deaths caused by accident is almost the same as that of the region (8.7%). A significant proportion (91.8%) of the deaths in the district is due to other causes such as health related complications and natural deaths. This is slightly above the regional figure (91.3%).

Migration

Migration is the movement of people between geographical boundaries. The movement can be within national boundaries, that is, internal migration or across geographical boundaries or national borders, that is, external migration. A migrant is a person whose current place of residence is different from his or her place of birth or previous place of residence.

Table 2.6 shows that out of the total district population of 59,068, the migrant population formed 18,199 representing one third (30.8%) of the district population. This implies that in-migration is higher than out-migration in the district.

The high percentage of migrant population means the district has the opportunity to tap the numerous advantages associated with the migrant population by bringing their expertise, skills and innovation to bear on the district economy. This brings about the determination to survive by way of working hard to earn a living which consequently brings about local economic growth and transformation. However, the high migrant population also has other adverse effects such as competition and pressure on the few social amenities and the likelihood of potential conflict.

The migrant population has 6,653 (36.6%) born elsewhere in the Brong Ahafo region and a high of 11,546 representing 63.4 percent born elsewhere in another region and outside Ghana.

The Table 2.6 also presents that migrant population (born elsewhere in another region), the three Northern Regions (Northern, Upper East and Upper West) make up the highest proportion of 65.5 percent in the District. This is followed by Ashanti (14.0%) while a few (5.9%) of the migrant population is born outside Ghana.

With respect to the duration of residence more than one third (33.0%) of the total migrant population has duration of residence between 1-4 years. This is followed by 21.3 percent of the migrants with duration of residence 10-19 years.

Also, an average of 24.1 percent of the migrant population from the three northern regions has the highest duration of residence between 10-19 years and 20 years and over.  This can be attributed to the available fertile farmland, availability of economic and social amenities and the location advantage with regards to the closeness to the three northern regions.

Marital status

Marriage in Ghana is recognized as a union between a man and a woman with the awareness and/or approval of both families. It includes formal unions that are legal, traditional or religiously sanctioned, and informal cohabitating unions. This section presents information on marital status by age, sex, level of education and economic activity.

According to the 2010 PHC information on the marital status of persons from age 12 years are indicated in the data shown (Figure 3.1). There are 40,757 persons aged 12 years and older in the district. About 54.2 percent have ever been married.  48.8 percent are currently married or living together, while 5.7 percent are separated or divorced and 4.5 percent are widowed.  

Figure 3.2 looks at marital status of persons 12 years and older in the Techiman North District by sex. Whereas only about one in three females (33.9%) have never married, the proportion of males is nearly fifty percent (48.7%). However, an opposite trend emerges in relation to widowhood. The proportion of females widowed is about seven times higher (7.7% versus 1.0%). Also, amongst persons who are married, there are more females (45.5%) than males (42.4%). Similar trend is observed among those who are in informal/consensual/living together where there are more females (5.2%) than males (4.3%).