Greater Accra Region public sector employees earn more salaries than their counterparts in other regions.

This is according to the Ghana 2022 Earnings: Inequality in the Public Sector report published by Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

While some employees of the public sector receive an average monthly net wage of GH3,142, others in the North East Region only receive GH2,212, according to the GSS.

In the report, the Statistical Service also noted that men earn an average monthly net wage of GHS 2,669 compared to GHS 2,504 for women.

“The difference between the average net salary of men and women is GH₵165. This means that the gender pay gap is 6.0 percent. Men have a higher average monthly net salary, of GH₵2,669, while women have an average of GH₵2,504. The average monthly net salary of women is lower than that of men in all 16 regions,” the report said.

According to the GSS research, women in the Central Area earn less than males, with a 5.0 percent gender pay discrepancy.

“The difference is highest for employees in the Upper West region, with men earning on average GH₵348 more than women. This is a gender pay gap of 13 percent. In the Central Region the difference between men and women is the least, with women earning GH₵124 less than men. This means the gender pay gap of 5.0 percent,” it said.

Also, the GSS report said the average monthly salary for employees older than 60 years is much higher than that of any other age group.

“The average monthly salary for employees older than 60 years (GH₵14,466) is much higher than that of any other age group, almost five (4.7) times the average of 51 to 60 years, the group with the next highest average. For the age groups up to 41 to 50 years, the average monthly net salary increases by between GH₵300 and GH₵500 from one age group to the next, with an increase of around GH₵200 between 41 to 50 years and 51 to 60 years.,” GSS noted.

Furthermore, “the average monthly net salary of public sector employees is GH₵2,594. The highest paid earner takes home GH₵33,855, which is close to 81 times as high as the net salary of the lowest paid worker (GH₵418). The top 10 percent of the employees with the highest net salaries earn 22 percent of the total net salary. Half of the employees earn only one-third of the total net salary”.

According to the GSS, the government of Ghana employs around 688,000 people, with Ashanti (18.2%) and Greater Accra (16.5%) accounting for more than one-third (34.8%) of the workforce.

The North East (1.4%) and Savannah (1.4%) regions account for only 2.8 percent of all public sector personnel.