Demand
Who is here, and how many
The districts of Upper West, ranked
Population (2021 census). UNFPA / Ghana Statistical Service (COD-PS, 2021 Population and Housing Census), 2021. Click a district to open it.
Who is here
| Indicator | Value | Against Ghana | vs Ghana | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population (2021 census)regioniPublished regional figure, not a sum of districts. | 901,502 | – | ||
| Population (2020 estimate)modellediModelled; use for distribution, not as a count. | 854,727 | – | ||
| Share of Ghana's people | 2.9% | – | ||
| Population growth 2010–2021 | 2.3% a year | +0.3 pts | ||
| Land area (km²)region | 19,111 | – | ||
| People per km² (2021 census)region | 47 | −63% | ||
| Dependency ratio (dependants per 100 aged 15-64)region | 76 | +16% | ||
| Sex ratio (males per 100 females)region | 96 | ≈ | ||
| Named localitiesproxyiGazetteer coverage, not a settlement count. | 843 | – |
The economy that pays the rent
What the place trades on
What Upper West's districts say they trade on
Districts naming each sector as a leading sector in their own development plan, of 11. Plan-stated, not measured.
| Indicator | Value | Against Ghana | vs Ghana | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP per capita (national)nationaliNational context only; no regional GDP is published. | $3,257 | – |
What is not measured here
Establishment counts and poverty incidence are not published for any district or region. See “What we do not know yet” below.
Cost to build, cost to occupy
What building and housing cost
Housing CPI (region)
309
2021 = 100, Jan 2026
Housing CPI, Ghananational
329
2021 = 100, Jan 2026
Construction PPI, year on yearnational
0.9%
national, base 2020 = 100; no regional series
Housing and utilities prices, Upper West against Ghana
- Upper West 309
- Ghana 329
Consumer price index, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 2021 = 100, monthly 2015–Jan 2026. Ghana Statistical Service, StatsBank. Regional and national.
A district inside Upper West carries the regional rate; no district price series exists. Rent and land evidence is listed under “What we do not know yet” below.
Getting there, getting served
Transport, power, water and connectivity
Ghana. Nothing on transport, power, water or connectivity is published for Upper West Region itself; these are the national figures, with Sub-Saharan Africa and the World beside them.
- Access to electricity
- 92% Sub-Saharan Africa 55%World 92%
- Basic drinking water
- 90% Sub-Saharan Africa 68%World 92%
- Internet users
- 72% Sub-Saharan Africa 34%World 71%
- Logistics Performance Index
- 2.5 Sub-Saharan Africa 2.5World 3
Where a regional spatial development framework exists it is listed in section 5; its transport and utility corridors are what a site analysis reads for a specific parcel. Night-time lights and business density are not measured yet: see “What we do not know yet” below.
Land, planning and what is permitted
What the statutory plan says
Plans on file
| Indicator | Value | Against Ghana | vs Ghana | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Districts with a plan held | 9 of 11 | – | ||
| Districts with a current plan | 0 of 11 | – | ||
| Districts with extracted plan content | 7 of 11 | – | ||
| Districts with a description | 9 of 11 | – |
- Wa Municipalprior cycle
- Wa Westno plan held
- Wa Eastprior cycle
- Jirapaprior cycle
- Sissala Eastprior cycle
- Nadowli-Kaleoprior cycle
- Sissala Westprior cycle
- Lawraprior cycle
- Nandomprior cycle
- Lambussie-Karniprior cycle
- Daffiama Bussie Issano plan held
9 of 11 districts have at least one medium-term development plan held by CAD; 0 have the current 2026–2029 cycle.
Spatial plans that apply
- Northern Savannah Ecological Zone SDFmulti-region · unconfirmed · spatial development framework; SDF (executive summary) · 11 of 11 districts named
- Ghana National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF)national · 2015-2035 · spatial development framework; SDF (executive summary)
Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, catalogued by CAD. Sub-regional and local plans are listed only where their own text names districts in this region.
What a market study includes
Scope
- Demand: who is in the catchment, from the 2021 census down to the localities around the site, with household formation for residential and the retail catchment for commercial.
- The economy that pays the rent: the sectors, the establishments and the anchor employers around the site, from field survey and the assembly’s own records.
- Cost to build and to occupy: dated, graded asking rents and land prices for the corridor, reconciled with the prime-market reports; build-cost benchmarks.
- Land, planning and what is permitted: the statutory plan and the spatial framework read for the parcel, the stool or skin that holds the land, and the permit route through the assembly.
- An underwritten view: absorption, rent and yield assumptions carried into a cash-flow model, with every input sourced and tiered.
Deliverables
- A written site analysis with every figure sourced, dated and tiered, the same standard as this site.
- The catchment map and the plan overlay as files you can reuse.
- The underwriting model, with the assumptions sheet.
- One working session to walk through the findings.
Who you have to deal with
The assembly, the region, the stool
| Indicator | Value | Against Ghana | vs Ghana | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional capitalregion | Wa | – | ||
| Assemblies by type | 0 metropolitan · 4 municipal · 7 district | – |
- Regional Minister appointedConstitution 1992 art. 256; Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) · chairs the Regional Coordinating Council
Traditional councils named in the region's plans
- Jirapa Paramountcynamed in the plans of Jirapa
- Ullo Paramountcynamed in the plans of Jirapa
- Sissala East Traditional Councilnamed in the plans of Sissala East
- Nabulonamed in the plans of Sissala East
- Kaleonamed in the plans of Nadowli-Kaleo
- Sankananamed in the plans of Nadowli-Kaleo
- Takponamed in the plans of Nadowli-Kaleo
- Nadowlinamed in the plans of Nadowli-Kaleo
- Charikpongnamed in the plans of Nadowli-Kaleo
- Pulimanamed in the plans of Sissala West
- Gwollunamed in the plans of Sissala West
- Zininamed in the plans of Sissala West
- NandomNandom Naanamed in the plans of Nandom
As named by each assembly in its own development plan, with the page cited on the district page. Never a person; disputes are not adjudicated here. The Regional House of Chiefs is the authority on succession.
Parliamentary constituencies are not shown. The Electoral Commission's register carries no reuse licence, so CAD does not reproduce it. The assembly and the traditional council are shown because their sources allow it.
What we do not know yet
And what we can measure for you
What the district pages do not yet show, and why. Some of it the Ghana Statistical Service publishes and this site has not yet taken in; some of it CAD derives; some of it nobody in Ghana publishes at all.
Not yet on this site
Published by the Ghana Statistical Service for every district (the 2021 census tables, the business establishment survey, the poverty map) and not yet on this site.
Labour and employment 3 indicators
informal employment · labour-force participation · unemployment rate
Poverty and business counts 3 indicators
business establishments by sector · business establishments · poverty incidence
Housing stock and tenure 1 indicators
housing stock
Derived by CAD for a catchment
Derived by CAD from open geodata for a catchment; no agency publishes it per district.
Infrastructure and activity proxies
night-time lights (activity proxy) · points of interest per km² (activity proxy)
Housing stock and tenure
building footprints
Not published anywhere, measured by CAD on site
Not published anywhere in Ghana. CAD measures it on site.
Poverty and business counts
anchor employers · largest companies
How we close it. We map the establishments and anchor employers around a site from field survey and the assembly's own records, and read poverty from the census small-area estimates.
Land and rent evidence
land prices · prime office rents · residential asking rents
How we close it. We collect asking rents and land prices for the corridor, dated and graded, and reconcile them with the prime-market reports. No transaction register exists in Ghana; every figure says what it is.
The public data on this page is free; detailed industry scores come with CAD Complete. The analysis is the service: a demand study, a catchment, rent and land evidence collected for your site, the plan and the stool read for what they permit, and an underwritten view of whether it works.
Commission a market study for Upper West Region