Over 22 million Ghanaians suffered income drops due to COVID-19 – Report

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed that the incomes of 22 million Ghanaians in the country have reduced since March 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic hit Ghana.

This makes up 77.4 percent of the total household population in the country, the government statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim noted at a press conference on Thursday, July 30, 2020.

“With our current population of about 31 million, if 77.4 percent of persons indicated that total household incomes went down since March 16, this implies that about 22 million Ghanaians were affected by the reduction in income as a result of COVID-19,” Prof Annim explained.

The survey, was conducted with a sample size of 3,265 households across all 16 regions in the country.

Out of this figure, the Greater Accra Region was reported to be the least affected region while the Upper West, the Bono and Bono East Regions recorded the worst-hit households.

According to the survey, 2 million persons also did not engage in any work activity due to COVID-19 related safety issues.

This challenge saw the reduction in access to some basic amenities such as food and basic health care.

“Specifically, between the period June 3 and June 9, 2020, more than one million people in Ghana indicated that suspension of work was the reason for not working,” Prof. Annim noted.

The pandemic led to the closure of borders affecting tourism and hospitality, among others.

New public gathering protocols and a partial lockdown led to an economic slowdown that crippled many businesses and triggered widespread job losses.

The Finance Minister revealed during the mid-year budget review that the pandemic had left the country with a revenue shortfall of GHS13.6 billion and unplanned expenditures of GHS11.7 billion.

About the survey

The service in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank conducted a survey to track the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 on households and jobs.

The “Households and Jobs Tracker” was to provide insights on how household lives and jobs are impacted by the pandemic.

The Households and Jobs Tracker is one of the three surveys being conducted by the service and development partners on socioeconomic impacts of the coronavirus disease.

Topics covered in this tracker include income loss, access to services, employment, coping strategies among others.

The other two surveys which are Business Tracker and the Local Economy Tracker are being implemented.

 

Source: Citi News