The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) is reviewing how population data is incorporated into Ghana’s development plans to ensure government policies and investments respond to the country’s current demographic realities.
The review is focusing on selected 2026–2029 Medium-Term Development Plans (MTDPs) and is expected to help planners better account for population size and growth, age structure, fertility, mortality, migration and the spatial distribution of the population.
Director-General of the NDPC, Dr Audrey Smock Amoah, said effective development planning should not end with the preparation of a plan but must translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
“It’s very good to have a good plan, but it is best to have the plan implemented and ultimately the plan having effect on the people the plan is intended to serve,” she said.
Dr Amoah made the remarks at the opening of a four-day technical assessment in Accra on Monday, August 24, 2026.
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She said updating the Population Integration Models was necessary to ensure that planning decisions reflect Ghana’s current demographic conditions.
According to her, changes in population characteristics have direct implications for the provision of social services, infrastructure, employment opportunities and other development needs.
The Executive Director of the National Population Council (NPC) said the models had not been used for more than a decade, making the availability of data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census an opportunity to update them.
She stressed that the exercise was not simply about replacing old population figures with new data, but about ensuring that population evidence influences development planning and decision-making, particularly at the local level.
A Programme Analyst, David Agyemang, who represented the UNFPA representative at the assessment, said population dynamics were central to development planning.
He said the assessment would examine not only whether population variables had been included in the selected development plans, but also whether the information was being used to determine priorities, guide implementation and inform decision-making.
The technical assessment is being conducted by the NDPC in collaboration with the National Population Council, with representatives from selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other institutions taking part.
The findings are expected to inform an update of the Manual on the Integration of Population Variables in Development Planning.
They will also support the development of capacity-building initiatives to help planners better incorporate population evidence into development plans.
The NDPC said the exercise is intended to strengthen the use of demographic evidence in planning and ensure that development interventions are better aligned with the needs of Ghana’s population.
