NCA releases report on household survey on ICT in Ghana

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has released the Report on the ‘Household Survey on Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Ghana’.

The objective of the survey was to provide a reliable database at the household level to meet the increasing demand for data on ICT indicators as well as contribute to policy and data-driven decision making to promote the development of the ICT industry in Ghana.

Conducted in June 2019, through a collaborative effort between the NCA and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Survey measured Ghana’s ICT development based on ICT Access, Usage, Skills and Digital Divide focusing on ICT indicators that are consistent with the standards used by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in computing the ICT Development Index (IDI).

This survey, covering 5,946 households from all Regions in the country, focused on Individual ownership and usage of Mobile phones, SIM cards and Computers, Internet access and usage, Mobile Money, Bundling, Households ownership and usage of ICT products and services.

Some key highlights of the results are:

- About 63.2% of individuals aged 5 years and older in urban localities own a mobile phone whilst 44.8% of those in rural localities own a mobile phone.

- Households in Ghana with access to the internet service was 16.8%. Comparatively, access to the internet in urban areas (20.0%) is higher than that of rural localities (12.8%).

- At the national level, 40.8% indicated that they had ever used mobile money services; a greater percentage of individuals from the rural localities had never used mobile money services.

The abridged report and respective infographics can be found below:

- Household Survey on Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Ghana (Abridged Version)

- Infographics on Household Survey on Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Ghana

The Authority is hopeful that this baseline study will afford Governments, Regulators and other stakeholders an overview of current trends and potential changes to anticipate in the ICT space going forward.

As a forward-looking body, the NCA will continue to take measures to strengthen its regulatory obligation to reinforce its decision making through empirical evidence.