Introduction

Information on age composition and sex structure allows for proper planning of programmes and policy implementation in order to deepen our decentralization process it is imperative for us to have statistics on age composition, the sex structure, the population distribution, the age dependency, migration, fertility and mortality etc.

Population by Age, Sex and Locality

Population Size and Distribution (Urban/rural) and sex ratio

Table 2.1 shows the distribution of the population by locality of residence and sex. The Municipality has a population of 69,757, constituting 2.6 percent of the population in Eastern Region. There are more females 36,663 (52.6%) than males 33094. (47.4%). The age group with the highest proportion of the total population in the Municipality is 0-4, constituting 13.8 percent and the age group with the lowest proportion is 95-99 representing two percent. While the sex ratio for all ages is 90.3, the age group with the highest sex ratio is 15-19 constituting 109.0. The age dependency ratio for the rural localities is 88.22 and for the urban localities it is 86.8

Figure 2.1 gives a graphical presentation of age-sex structure of the district. The figure shows a youthful structure that is characteristic of a developing country such as Ghana. The pyramid is broad at the base, indicating majority of the population falls within the very young age group of 0-4 years. The pyramid narrows gradually from the base to the top indicating a gradual reduction in the population until it peaks at age 85 and older. Another feature of the Municipality population pyramid is that there are more females in the older age groups than the males as you approach the peak.

Fertility, Mortality and Migration

The levels and changes of the three components of population change- fertility, mortality and migration- are important for socioeconomic planning and policy formulation. In developing countries such as Ghana, where population registers are non-existent, censuses provide the more comprehensive data on fertility, mortality and migration in terms of coverage than surveys and other sources. Censuses, however, may not capture all aspects of the components of population as surveys do. This section of the report examines levels of fertility, mortality and migration in the Municipality, using data from the 2010 Population and Housing Census.

 Fertility

Measures of fertility are important in determining the size and structure of the population. Information on fertility in the Municipality is therefore critical for the management of the population for social and economic development. This section reports on fertility levels in the Municipality.

Two types of fertility measures are used to examine levels of fertility in the Municipality. These are current fertility measures and cumulative fertility measures. Current fertility measures such as total fertility rate (TFR) are based on data covering a short period of time such as a year ( in the case of population censuses) or five years (in surveys), while cumulative measures such as mean children ever born are based on retrospective fertility data covering women’s reproductive performance over their lifetime.

Current fertility

Table 2.2 shows reported fertility rate, general fertility rate and crude birth rate by Municipality and region. The most commonly used measures of current fertility are the total fertility rate (TFR). It is defined as the number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years if she were to experience the currently observed age-specific fertility rates.

The table shows that 67,900 births occurred in the Municipality in the 12 months preceding the census. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the district is 3.8 children per woman, which is higher than the regional average of 3.5. The table also presents other fertility measures. The General Fertility Rate which indicates the number of births per 1000 women of reproductive age is 114.0 compared with the regional average of 103.9. Similarly, district’s Crude Birth Rate of 26.8 per 1000 population is higher than that of the regional average of 25.8 per 1000 population.

Cumulative (lifetime) fertility

The mean number of children ever born per woman measures the lifetime or cumulative fertility performance of female respondents in the reproductive age group. Table 2.3 shows children ever born and children surviving to the female population 12 years and older by age of mother. Overall, the table indicates that the Municipality’ average of completed family size for women aged 12 to 60 years and older is 3.1 children per woman. The average number of children ever born increases with age with the figure far higher among older women.

 

Mortality

Data on mortality provide an indication of the health status of the population as well as a measure of the living conditions of the people. This section provides information on household deaths within the 12 months preceding the Census Night. Table 2.4 presents the causes of death by district in the Eastern Region. Out of a total of 879 deaths recoded in the Kwahu South District, about 10 percent are due to accident or violence or homicide or suicide which is slightly lower than the regional average of 10.4 percent.

The age specific death rate (ASDR) is the number of deaths per year per 1,000 population of a given age group by sex. Mortality varies considerably by age and sex. Figure 2.2 shows the expected “U” pattern with the lowest mortality rates occurring in the 10 – 19 year age group. As expected mortality is high in first years of life, especially among males then falls sharply and reaches its minimum at age 10-14. Thereafter it rises steadily with advancing age, but slightly higher among the female population. Whiles mortality picks up momentum among males by age 35, whereas that of females starts 10 years later, that is from age 45.

Migration

Migration refers to change in usual place of residence. A migrant is therefore defined as a person whose usual place of residence is different from his/her place of birth or previous residence. The importance of measuring migration lies in its impact on the population size, structure and distribution in the Municipality.

Migration is difficult to measure due to its repetitiveness and difficulty in establishing direction and permanency of the event. Nevertheless census information on birthplace and duration of residence is used to discuss migration patterns in the Municipality. At the district level, migration may involve the movement of people between the district and other localities in the Eastern Region (intra-regional migration) or the movement of people between the Municipality and other regions in Ghana

Data on place of birth and place of enumeration provides information on migratory movement of the population.

Table 6.6 shows birthplace by duration of residence of migrant in the Municipality. According to the table majority of migrants in the Municipality are born elsewhere in the Eastern Region constituting 53.4 percent. This is followed by migrants from Greater Accra Region constituting 12.0 percent. In terms of duration of residence, migrants from the Volta Region are in the majority of those who have stayed in the Municipality for up to 20 years or more accounting for 39.0 percent. This is followed by migrants from the Upper East, 25.5 percent. About 9.4 percent of migrants, born in the Northern Region have stayed in the Municipality for less than one year.