One in every four households (27.7%) in urban areas did not have their main source of drinking water on their premises according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) General Report on Water and Sanitation. This figure represents 1.4 million urban households without access to water on their premises. Out of this number, 89,922 households had to travel more than 30 minutes to make a round trip to get to their main source of drinking water and return.

Nationally, 112,031 households in urban areas were using unimproved sources of drinking water defined as sources not adequately protected from outside contamination. One in every four (24.0%) urban households was using unimproved sources of drinking water in the North East Region which recorded the highest percentage and was over ten times the national urban average (2.2%). The Northern (10.0%) and Savannah (9.3%) regions distantly recorded the next highest percentages of households using unimproved sources in urban areas.

Almost half a million (449,849) households in urban areas did not have a toilet facility and were practising open defaecation while 1.3 million used public toilet facilities. Over half of urban households practised open defaecation in the North East (54.0%) and Savannah (51.9%) regions, more than five times the national urban average of 8.9 percent. In all, there were six regions with over 20.0 percent of urban households practising open defaecation.

The 2021 PHC General Report on Housing Conditions indicates that over a quarter of a million (316,116) households in urban areas were living in uncompleted buildings (79,721) or unconventional structures (236,395). Unconventional structures comprise wooden structures (143,261), kiosks or poly kiosks (78,016), or metal containers (15,118). One in every 10 (11.9%) households in urban areas In the Greater Accra Region were living in uncompleted buildings or unconventional structures. All the other fifteen regions recorded percentages below the national urban average (5.4%).

World Cities Day is commemorated annually on 31st October to end the observance of Urban October which was instituted to raise awareness of the challenges facing urban areas.

Disaggregated data on households in rural areas can be accessed directly from the GSS StatsBank. The 2021 PHC General Reports on Housing Conditions, and Water and Sanitation can be downloaded from www.statsghana.gov.gh.