850,000 Ghanaians pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 – WIEGO report reveals

Ghanaian

A report by the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) has unveiled that 850,000 Ghanaians, predominantly women, were plunged into extreme poverty in 2022.

This alarming trend stems from various factors, including soaring government debt and the closure of international markets to Ghana.

Conducted in October 2023, the research revealed that despite a slight economic rebound from

Read full articlethe COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, a significant portion of these 850,000 individuals became vulnerable to inflationary pressures, triggering a cost-of-living crisis.

The depreciation of the cedi, driven by high government debt levels and disruptions in international markets due to the conflict in Ukraine, exacerbated the situation. Ghana's heavy reliance on imports intensified inflationary pressures, resulting in a surge in prices that pushed nearly 850,000 citizens into poverty in 2022.

By October 2023, the average inflation rate stood at 35 percent, with particularly steep increases observed in essential goods and services such as food, healthcare, housing, transportation, and education.

The report highlighted that workers in informal employment, constituting 89 percent of the national workforce (83 percent in Accra), bore the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis.

Lacking access to crucial safety nets such as pension schemes, poverty relief programs, cash transfers, and microfinance initiatives, these workers are disproportionately vulnerable to economic shocks.