According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census Report, Asokore Mampong accommodates a total of 304,815 people, reflecting an inter-censal growth of 8.68 between 2000 and 2010. The females (159,036) are more than the males (145,779) by 4.4 percent. The population density of the Municipality stands at 12,746.3 persons per sq. km (304,815/23.91490). This is due largely to fast population growth exerting pressure on the fixed land area.

Asokore Mampong has a current projected population of 431,355 as at 2014 with growth rate of 8.68%. Due to the urban location of the assembly the municipality has a high population density, hence the reason for the high growth rate. The closeness of the Municipality to Kumasi Metropolitan has aided the people of the Municipality to access higher services and infrastructures. The growth of the population in Asokore Mampong has influenced the population density in the Municipality. Asokore Mampong has a population density of 12,746.3 persons per sq. km (304,815/23.91490). Due to the closeness of the Municipality to Kumasi, interior roads in the Municipality provide alternative routes for the high traffic congestion in the Metropolitan area.

Population is a determinant and consequence of development. As a result, analysis of age and sex structure of a given population is of immense importance in the development planning process. This is because development problems and needs of a population vary from one age group to the other and as a result, knowledge of the age sex composition of a given population facilitates informed decision making which will ensure efficient and optimum use of scarce resources.

The population pyramid for the Municipality depicts a typical scenario in developing countries, with broad base denoting a youthful population with its attendant high fertility.

The age-sex structure of the municipality depicting high fertility means that there are a lot of children in the population, and so the base of the pyramid is wide. By comparison, its top is very narrow (or conical), which implies that mortality is high and many people do not frequently reach the most advanced ages, but especially due to high fertility, children systematically outnumber adults and the aged.

The age pyramid shows that the Municipality has a lot of potential for future population growth, if the death rate declines, more and more of the numerous children in the population will survive to the age of childbearing. As a result, more and more women will bear children every year, and the births will further widen the base. As a result, the population will grow fast in the long run.

Dependency Ratio and Occupation Distribution

The dependency ratio is the number of dependants per 100 of the workers population. Dependants are persons aged below 15 years and above 65 years. The working age group is those in the 16-64 years category. The total dependency ratio for the Municipal is 64.3, meaning that for every 100 working population, there are approximately 64 dependants. This shows high dependency in the Municipality. The proportion of dependants who are males is 67.5 and 61.5 for females. The Table below shows the age dependency of the Municipal population.

An occupation is an activity that serves as one’s regular source of livelihood. People in the Municipality are basically involved in service and sales industry managerial works; craft/related trades, elementary occupation, plant/machine operators, professionals, skilled agricultural forestry/fishery workers and clerical supports. The figure below shows the percentage distribution of the respective occupations identified above.

From the figure, the highest proportion (36.0%) is service and sales workers, followed by craft/related trades workers (27.1%) and elementary occupations (14.2%). Plant/machine operators constitute 7.2 percent and Professionals (5.7%). The least are skilled agricultural/ forestry/fishery workers and clerical support workers which tie at 1.9 percent respectively.

The proportion of female service and sales workers (51.5%) is higher than their male counterparts (20.7%). However, for craft and related trades workers, males dominate their female counterparts (17.1%) by 20 percentage points. Females are in the majority (19.2%) in elementary occupation as against males (9.2%). Also, the proportion of females in managerial occupation is slightly higher (3.5%) than males (3.3%). Meanwhile, males are the majority in professional occupation (7.1%) as against females (4.3%). Males dominate highly in technicians/associate professional occupation (4.1%) and Plant/machine operators and assemblers (13.9%).

 Migration Trends

Migration is one of the three factors that influence population increase. Birth and death are the other factors that affect population changes. Migration is determined by identifying the place of person’s birth, place of his/her enumeration and the population born elsewhere (in or out of Ghana).

Regarding Migration in the Municipality, 40.5 percent of migrants in Asokore-Mampong were born in a different locality but within the region and those born in another region constitute 56.3 percent and the remaining 3.2 percent are born outside Ghana. The highest duration of residence by migrants born elsewhere in the region is 1-4 years. Among the migrants from other regions into the Municipal, Northern region recorded the highest proportion of 16 percent, followed by Upper East (10.2%) and Central region 6.7 percent. Also, migrants from the Eastern region (24.2%) have stayed in the Municipal for more than twenty years. The table below shows that 3.2 percent of migrants who are born outside the country, 30.6 percent have stayed in the Municipal within the period of 1-4 years.

Household size and Characteristics

There are 72,478 numbers of households in the municipal as to the regional figure of 1,126,205. The municipal is having an average household size of 4.2 as per the 2010 population and housing census which is equivalent to the regional figure. This shows that on the average there are four people in a household.

Household composition looks at the people who make up the household and this include the gender of the head of household, total children, among others. Male headed household constituted 30 percent as to female headed household of 19.2 percent. Children also constituted 40.6 percent of the households followed by spouse (10.3%) and other relative (7.5%). Brother/sister and non-relatives of the household composition form 5.6 percent and 2.2 percent respectively. However, the least three members of households include parent/parent-In-law (1%), step/Adopted child (0.4%) and Son/Daughter In-law (0.3%). Also, 10.3 percent of household population is spouses, with 4.1 percent of male population reported as spouse. Non-relative constitutes 2.2 percent of household population, with female non-relative out numbering their male counterpart.

Settlement systems comprise locations of settlements in the Municipality and linkages among them considering distribution of services and infrastructure, hierarchy of the settlements and surface accessibility to services by the people in the settlements.

The Municipality has ten electoral areas, named Aboabo No. 1 & 2, Asawase, Sawaba, Adukrom, Akurem, Asokore Mampong, Sepe-Tinpom, New Zongo and Akwatialine and all these communities have certain levels of facilities/infrastructure services. It is noteworthy to state that all these settlements constitute a contiguous compact development with very little breaks in the contiguity at certain places in between them.

A scalogram was produced identifying the services available in each of the major communities within the Municipality. To determine if there were gaps in provision, these facilities were weighted based on the frequency that they were found within the Municipality (weighted centrality). For example, day cares were given a low weighted centrality due to the high number that are found within the Municipality. On the other hand, Senior High Schools received a high weighted centrality due to the few that are found within the Municipality. In turn, the population of each community was compared to their total centrality score (sum of weighted centrality of each facility that exists within the community). It should be noted that the scalogram has limitations as it does not consider the total number of each type of facility within the community.

Using a scalogram to establish a ranking of settlements according to services offered, the hierarchy of main settlements is as shown in the Table below:

There appears to be a relationship between the two variables; as population rises so does the centrality score. This suggests that facilities are being spread relatively equitably through the Municipality. The one exception appears to be in the case of Asokore Mampong as its total centrality score is much higher than other communities, considering its population. This could be because of its status as the Municipal capital it has many facilities that other communities would not normally have.