Population size and distribution

Assin South District has a population of 104,244 made up of slightly high proportion of 53,308 female (51.1%) compared to 50,936 males (48.9%).The table indicates that more than one third (42.9%) of the population are children less than 15 years, compared to 5.3 percent of the aged. The district has a high sex ratio of 95.6 compared to the regional ratio of 91.2. This means that for every 100 females there are 96 males. Age group 0-19 has the highest sex ratio with more male than females across the 0-19 age groups with the exception of female age groups 20-24, 25-29, 50-54, 80-85+ accounting for 48.9 percent. The district is predominately rural.

Age-Sex Structure

As depicted in Figure 2.1, the district population pyramid has a youthful population, consisting of a high proportion (broad base ) of (42.9%) children under 15 years, 32.8 percent 20-54 age group, and a conical top of (5.3%) of elderly persons (65 years and older). The district population consists of slightly high proportion of 51.1 percent female compared to 48.9 percent males. The sex ratio of 95.6 for the district indicates that there are more female than males.The age structure of the population is based on the effects of fertility and mortality. Figure 2.1 shows the age-sex structure with respect to Assin South District. It has a broad-base and narrow top population pyramid.

This shows that except the 70-74 age cohorts and the male component of age cohort 10-14, the population within every age cohort is lower than the cohort just preceding it given it a conical shape. This is a typical shape for the population of a developing country. The male population dominates the females in almost all the age cohorts. The population reduces with an increase in age but at age 70-74 the figure becomes higher than the preceding figure and then declined again.

Age Dependency Ratio by Locality

 Age group 15- 64 constitute the working group with a population of 53,896 or 51.7 percent of the total population, 0-14 years is 44,839 or 43 percent and 65+ years constitute 5.3 percent or 5,509 of the total population.The total dependency ration is 93.4 which mean that the working class will have additional person to cater for.The child dependency ratio is 83.2 and old age dependency ratio is 10.2.The relationship between the populations aged 0-14 years and 65 years and above and the population aged 15-64 years constitute age dependency, measured per 100 working age populations.

The age-dependency ratio by sex in the district is presented in Table 2.2. There is a relatively high age dependency ratio in the district (93.4 persons per 100 of the population). This means that at least every one person within the working age group has about one person in the dependent age group to care for. The table further indicates that the child dependency ratio of 83.2 is higher than the old age ratio (10.2).

Population Size by Locality

The total population of Central Region is 2,201,863. The rural population is 1,163,985 constituting 52.9 percent and 1,037,878 urban populations which constitute 47.1 percent. The percentage of Assin South District to the total population of Central Region is 4.7.

Fertility, Mortality and Migration

The changes in population are as a result of fertility, mortality and migration. High fertility rates coupled with low mortality rates results in high population. To determine how the demography of the district will change, it is important to know the migration, fertility and mortality patterns.

Fertility

The natural growth of a population is dependent on lifetime fertility and current fertility. Lifetime fertility refers to the total number of live births that females 12 years and older had ever had during their lifetime. Current fertility refers to the number of live births that females 12 - 54 years old had during the 12 months preceding the census night. The TFR is the average number of children that would be born to a woman by the time she completes childbearing if she was to experience the prevailing age-specific fertility rate. There are other fertility measures such as the General Fertility Rate (GFR), the Crude Birth Rate (CBR), among others. The general fertility rate expresses births relative to the number of women in the reproductive age.

The crude birth rate (CBR) is the simplest and most frequently used measure of fertility. It is easy to calculate because it requires only the total number of births and the total population. It is crude and always expressed per 1000 population.Table 2.3 shows total fertility rate, general fertility rate and crude birth rate. Assin South District has 4.3 total fertility rates which are higher than the Regional average of 3.6. Assin South District has 125.9 general fertility rates which makes it second highest in Central Region and also higher than the Region average of 105.3. The District has a crude birth rate of 28.8 which is also higher than the Regional average figure of 26.8.

Mortality

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year. of mortality is very important as it is one of the determinants of population in any country.Table 2.5 shows total population, deaths in households and crude death rate by district. It indicates that a total of 753 household deaths occurred in the district.The death in the district accounts for 4.5 percent of the total deaths in the region. 

Also, the district recorded a crude death rate of 7.2. This means that 7 persons dead per 1000 of the population of Assin south district.Central Region. Assin South District recorded 91 deaths or 12 percent of the total deaths through accident/violence/homicide/ suicide which is lower than the regional average of 14.1 percent. The percentage of other causes of death is 88 percent or 662 deaths which is higher than the regional average of 85.9 percent.

Reported Age Specific Death Rate by Sex

Death rates are calculated for specific age groups in order to compare mortality at different ages or at the same age over time. The age specific death rate (ASDRs) is computed as a ratio of deaths of people in a specified age group, for example deaths among the 20-24 year age group to the population multiplied by 1000. The data shows that the death rates for males and females are higher in ages 0-4 but lowest at ages 10-14. The death rate start rising at ages 15-19 and intensifies with increase in age. The ASDRs is higher for females from ages 10-14 to 35-39. The ASDRs for males become higher than females from ages 40-44 upward.

Migration

32,580 migrants were recorded in Assin South District during the 2010 population and housing census. 21,144 persons denoting 64.9 percent were born elsewhere in the region. A higher proportion of migrants were born in the Eastern Region (9.2%) followed by Ashanti Region (6.7%). Four percent of migrants from Eastern Region have stayed in the district for 20 years and over and 15.9 percent from outside Ghana have also stayed for 20 years and over. About a fifth (20%) from Brong Ahafo has stayed in the district for 10-19 years. About a third (35.7%) of migrants from Brong Ahafo has stayed in the district for 1-4 years likewise 30 percent of those from outside Ghana who have also stayed for 1-4 years.

Household

A household was defined as a person or a group of persons, who lived together in the same house or compound and shared the same house-keeping arrangements. In general, a household consisted of a man, his wife, children and some other relatives or a house help who may be living with them. However, it is important to remember that members of a household are not necessarily related (by blood or marriage) because non-relatives (e.g. house helps) may form part of a household.

Head of Household

The household head was defined as a male or female member of the household recognised as such by the other household members.The head of household is generally the person who has economic and social responsibility for the household. All relationships are defined with reference to the head.

Household and Non-household Population

Household population comprised of all persons who spent the census night in a household setting. All persons who did not spend the census night in a household setting (except otherwise stated) were classified as non-household population. Persons who spent census night in any of the under listed institutions and locations were classified as non-household population:

(a) Educational institutions

(b) Children's and old people’s homes

(c) Hospitals and healing centres

(d) Hotels

(e) Prisons

(f) Service barracks

(g) Soldiers on field exercise

(h) Floating population:

The following are examples of persons in this category:

i. All persons who slept in lorry parks, markets, in front of stores and offices, public bathrooms, petrol filling stations, railway stations, verandas, pavements, and all such places which are not houses or compounds.

ii. Hunting and fishing camps.

iii. Beggars and vagrants (mentally sick or otherwise).

Age

The age of every person was recorded in completed years disregarding fractions of days and months. For those persons who did not know their birthdays, the enumerator estimated their ages using a list of district, regional and national historical events.

Nationality

Nationality is defined as the country to which a person belongs. A distinction is made between Ghanaians and other nationals. Ghanaian nationals are grouped into Ghanaian by birth, Ghanaian with dual nationality and Ghanaian by naturalization. Other nationals are grouped into ECOWAS nationals, Africans other than ECOWAS nationals, and non-Africans.