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Disclaimer / Limitations
This country’s legal measures were reviewed by our legal staff in consultation with in-country lawyers and/or CRVS legal experts. All efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the legal analysis, however, if you consider there to be any discrepancies or if there have been changes in the law of the country since our staff last updated the legal analysis, we welcome any additional information or insights. Please contact us via this form.
Vital Statistics
Ghana
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Ghana
Vital Statistics
Structure of Vital Statistics Agency
Structure of Vital Statistics Agency
Agency
Does the legal framework designate the entity or entities responsible for compiling vital statistics in the country?
Yes. Statistical Service.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The legal framework for the vital statistics system should assign the functions of establishing, operating and maintaining a national vital statistics system to a governmental agency. Most countries assign responsibility for the vital statistics system to the national statistics office. Another option is to place the vital statistics administration within the civil registration agency. A third option is to designate specific government agencies to carry out different vital statistics functions related to their respective areas of work. Whatever option is chosen, close coordination between the vital statistics system, civil registration system, and health sector is essential.
The Statistical Service is an independent national agency that is responsible for providing quality, relevant, accurate and timely statistical information for the purpose of national development. It is headed by the Government Statistician, who is appointed by the President. The Government Statistician is mandated to collect, compile, analyze, abstract, publish and disseminate statistics in relation to a wide range of matters, one of which is “Vital occurrences including births, deaths and marriages”.
Link Between Civil Registration and Vital Statistics
Are vital statistics derived from the civil registration system?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
A well-functioning civil registration system is the ideal source from which to derive accurate, complete, timely, and continuous information on vital events. Vital statistics should therefore be derived from civil registration data.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations require the national Registrar to forward to the Government Statistician a report of each birth, fetal death and death registered in the country, although these reports are not explicitly identified in the Registration of Births and Deaths Act or its accompanying regulations or in the Statistical Service Act as being the sources of official statistics on vital events.
Are there clear procedures and timeframes in the legal framework to facilitate sharing data from the civil registration agency to the national statistics agency(ies)?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should require and enable the regular and timely sharing of statistical data from civil registration authority to the vital statistics agency.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations require the national Registrar to forward to the Government Statistician a report of each birth, fetal death and death registered in the country, but no time frame is specified.
In practice, the Births and Deaths Registry reported in 2024 that a statistical summary of birth registration is submitted monthly to the “National Statistics Unit” and is used to validate data from the Registry’s electronic database.
Does the law require that civil registration data be anonymized before it is shared with the national statistics agency(ies)?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should balance the privacy of individuals, with facilitation of data linkages between the civil registration and vital statistics agency when statistical data is shared between them. Generally vital event information should be submitted with identity information - such as name and unique personal identifier- removed.
There is no provision for anonymization of civil registration data that is shared with the Statistical Service, but there are prohibitions on publishing data that reveal the identity of an individual.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations require the national Registrar to forward to the Government Statistician a report of each birth, fetal death and death registered in the country, and states that these must be treated as confidential. Section 31 of the Statistical Service Act generally prohibits a member of the Service from publishing or revealing any information that identifies a specific person to a third party except with the prior written consent of the person in question – with an exception to this rule for information transmitted by the Government Statistician to the Office of the President, a Ministry, Department or Agency for statistical purposes.
