Requests for unofficial payments to access public services in Ghana rose sharply in the second half of 2025, with nearly 7 in 10 citizens who encountered bribery reporting that public officials demanded extra payments, according to new governance data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The survey also found that the proportion of Ghanaians who paid a bribe increased from 14.3% in the first half of 2025 to 18% in the second half, meaning about one in six people paid a bribe to a public official during the period.
Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, speaking at a Governance Series event organized by Three Reports and the GSS on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, said the findings showed that conditions worsened over the last six months of 2025, even though the country’s overall performance for the year improved compared with 2024.
“The most recent six months, which is July to December 2025, got harder compared to the previous six months, which is January to June 2025,” he said.“Over the last six months of 2025, the share who paid a bribe rose from 14.3% in the first half of 2025 to 18% in the second half of 2025. That is about one in six paid a bribe to a public official.”
He said requests for extra payments increased even more sharply, rising from 51% in the first half of 2025 to 69% in the second half.
“So the pressure sits at the counter. The problem now is less what citizens offer and more of what officials would ask,” Dr Iddrisu said.
Despite the deterioration in the second half of the year, he said the broader annual trend remained positive.
“The full year, which is 2025, got better compared to 2024. Both of these stories are true, and that’s the beauty of the six-monthly survey that we do, to be able to look at trends within waves and even compare between years,” he said.
The Government Statistician said the survey tracks the same nationally representative households across all 16 regions, allowing changes in governance indicators to reflect real changes in people’s experiences rather than differences in survey samples.
The findings cover citizens’ experiences between July and December 2025 and were collected during the first quarter of 2026 through interviews with household heads.
In a related development, nearly two million young Ghanaians are neither in education, employment nor training, highlighting the country’s growing challenge of turning its youthful population into a productive workforce, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The GSS said about two million people aged 15 to 35, representing 19.5% of Ghana’s youth population, were classified as Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) as of the third quarter of 2025.
The figures were released as part of activities marking World Population Day under the theme, “Investing in Ghana’s Future through Healthy, Skilled and Empowered Young People.”
The Service said the findings underscore the need for stronger investments in education, skills development and job creation to ensure young people are equipped to contribute to national development.
The GSS also highlighted concerns over adolescent pregnancy, citing findings from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, which showed that 15% of girls aged 15 to 19 had ever been pregnant, while 11% had already given birth.
According to the Service, early pregnancy can interrupt education, reduce access to skills development and limit young women’s long-term participation in the labour market.
The NEET figures come against the backdrop of persistently high youth unemployment.
Data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first three quarters of 2025 showed that unemployment among people aged 15 to 35 averaged 21.9%, compared with the national average of 12.8%.
The GSS said Ghana’s demographic profile presents both an opportunity and a challenge.
Young people aged 15 to 35 now account for 36.9% of the country’s estimated population of 33.7 million, up from 34.6% in 2000, making youth outcomes increasingly important to the country’s long-term economic prospects.
The Service called for increased investment in technical and vocational education, stronger school-to-work transition programmes, support for entrepreneurship and expansion of sectors capable of creating decent jobs.
It said whether Ghana benefits from its growing youth population will depend on the country’s ability to equip young people with the education, skills and employment opportunities needed to participate fully in the economy.
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