GHANA

Researching Development Indicators Of GHANA.

Introduction

The given paper aims to highlight the main development indicators of Ghana. The key indicators of Mortality Rate under 5 which is an indicator measure the health status of the country, the GDP, GDP per capita, Population of Ghana, Unemployment rate and the associated job vacancies, major imports and exports of the country, budget and inflation rate have been used as the key development indicators.

Researching Development Indicators Of GHANA.

Indicators

From (year)

To (year)

Comments

Mortality Rate under 5

2006

2010

The Under 5 mortality rate (health indicator) in Ghana has decreased from 83.4 to 74.4 from January 2006 to January 2010 .

GDP

2006

2011

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Ghana has improved to $40.71 billion for the year 2011 from a mere $10.7 billion in 2006 (Trading Economics, 2013, P.n.d.).

GDP per Capita

2006

2013

GDP per capita for Ghana which has increased to $724.5 from the $520.4 in 2006 (Trading Economics, 2013, P.n.d.). The lower GDP per Capita in Ghana is owed mostly to this unfavourable location of the country.

Population

2006

2012

The population of Ghana has increased to 21.95 million in 2006 to 25.4 million people in 2012 (Ghana Millennium Development Goals Report, 2010, Pp.5). The population of Ghana currently represent a total of 0.36 percent of the population of the world.

Unemployment rate

2001

2005

Unemployment Rate in the country has increased to 12.9 for the year 2005 from 11.2 in the year 2001(Frimpong, 2012, p.n.d.).

Exports

1st quarter 2013

2nd quarter 2013

The country has experienced an overall decrease in its Exports from $1261.8 million to $1082 million from 1st quarter to second in the year 2013( African Economic Outlook, 2013, P.n.d.).

Imports

1st quarter 2013

2nd quarter 2013

The imports of the country have decreased to $1417.9 million for the 2nd quarter year 2013(Harvey and Sedegah, 2011, p.n.d.).. The country recorded annual imports of $1459 million in the first quarter. The year 2003 however recorded the lowest imports amounting to $692.7 million.

Job Vacancies

1st quarter 2013

2nd quarter 2013

The job vacancies in the country have decreased recently in the second quarter of the year 2013, amounting to 1577 from the 1842 in the first quarter. A further analysis of the figures however reveals that from the year 1993 onwards the average job vacancy has been 2394.81 with the year 2010 boasting the highest ever job vacancies of 6547.

Government Budget

2004

2012

The budget deficit for the country for the year 2012 is 12 percent as reported by the Bank of Ghana. From the year 2004 onwards, the GDP percent has averages to a negative 8.2 percent. (Trading Economics, 2013, P.n.d.).

Inflation Rate

2001

2013

The inflation rate has decreased from 63 percent in the year 2001 to 13.10 percent for the year 2013. In the year 1999 however, the country boasted a record low inflation rate of 0.4 percent.

Mortality Rate under 5

The aim of the country however is to reduce the under 5 mortality rate to less than 40 by the year 2015. In order to achieve the same the country needs to speed up its quality improvement activities as it is has achieved only half of the required goal (Ghana Millennium Development Goals Report, 2010, ...