The Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, has challenged statisticians, data scientists, researchers and policymakers to move beyond the production of numbers and focus on whether data is actually improving public policy and the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
Speaking at the 4th Annual Statistics and Data Science Conference 2026 in Tamale, Dr Iddrisu said the growing volume of data available to governments and institutions would mean little unless it can be trusted, properly interpreted and translated into decisions that produce measurable results.
The conference, which brings together statisticians, data analysts, researchers, academics, policymakers, development partners and industry professionals, is being held under the theme “Innovations in Statistics and Data Science: Research, Practice and Policy Impact.” Dr Iddrisu delivered the opening remarks as Special Guest of Honour on Wednesday, August 26.
He told participants that Ghana’s statistical community must now shift its attention from merely asking what can be measured to examining what difference that measurement makes.
According to him, the discussion builds directly on last year’s conference in Koforidua, which focused on statistical perspectives on the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Measurement alone is not enough. Data must not sit in reports; it must live in decisions.”
Dr Iddrisu said the central test of innovation should therefore be whether it changes outcomes in practical settings such as classrooms, clinics, farms and district assemblies.
“Innovation in statistics and data science must ultimately be judged by how well it improves decisions, strengthens policy and changes lives,” he said.
More data does not necessarily mean better decisions
The Government Statistician cautioned that Ghana and the rest of the world are producing information at an unprecedented rate through administrative systems, mobile networks, satellites, sensors and digital platforms.
But he argued that the abundance of information has created a different problem: determining which data can be trusted, how different sources should be combined and how findings can be communicated quickly enough for policymakers to act.
He said the future of official statistics should consequently be measured not by the volume of figures released, but by the public value those figures create.
At the Ghana Statistical Service, he said, the institution is increasingly shifting from simply asking what statistics it can produce to determining which decisions the statistics are intended to improve, who needs them and how quickly they must be delivered.
“That is the difference between being a producer of statistics and being a provider of solutions,” he said.
GSS points to inflation, poverty and corruption data
Dr Iddrisu highlighted three areas where the Ghana Statistical Service is attempting to use innovation to make official statistics more relevant to citizens and policymakers.
On inflation, he noted that the monthly inflation figure has implications far beyond the headline number because it affects interest rates, wages, household budgets, investment decisions and the national budget.
GSS has therefore sought to improve not only the timeliness of its monthly releases but also how the information is explained. The Service introduced an Annual Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report, with the maiden edition released in April 2026, as well as its Five-Minute Statistics series designed to translate major statistical findings into language that can be understood more easily by the public.
On poverty, Dr Iddrisu said the Service has moved beyond relying solely on income measures to assess deprivation.
Its maiden Multidimensional Poverty Report examines simultaneous disadvantages in areas including education, health, housing, sanitation and employment.
According to figures presented at the conference, Ghana’s multidimensional poverty rate fell from 32.3 percent in the third quarter of 2022 to 21.9 percent in the third quarter of 2025, a decline of about 10 percentage points.
But the national improvement masks significant differences across districts.
GSS data covering all 261 districts show that 250 recorded reductions in multidimensional poverty between 2021 and 2025. Yet in 2025, Yunyoo Nasuan District in the North East Region recorded a poverty rate of 51.6 percent, compared with 5.5 percent in Ayawaso North Municipal in Greater Accra.
Dr Iddrisu said such disparities demonstrate why increasingly granular statistics are important for policy targeting.
“That is not a gap in a table; it is a gap between two Ghanaian childhoods,” he told participants.
Bribery worsened in late 2025 despite annual improvement
The Government Statistician also pointed to governance statistics as an example of how data can shift national conversations from perceptions and anecdotes to measurable experiences.
Citing the latest Governance Series Report, Wave 3, Dr Iddrisu said the data showed a mixed picture on bribery.
The proportion of people who paid bribes to public officials increased from 14.3 percent in the first half of 2025 to 18 percent in the second half of the year.
Requests for extra payments also increased sharply, from 51 percent between January and June 2025 to 69 percent between July and December.
However, when 2025 is compared with 2024 as a whole, the data show an improvement.
Although the share of Ghanaians dealing with public officials increased from 56 percent in 2024 to 72 percent in 2025, the overall incidence of bribery declined from 18.4 percent to 16.8 percent.
The proportion of bribe payments exceeding GH¢1,000 also dropped from 14.7 percent to 7.6 percent.
For Dr Iddrisu, the importance of such data lies in its ability to help authorities identify where corruption occurs, who is most affected and where interventions should be concentrated.
‘Ghana in Numbers’ flagship report coming
The Ghana Statistical Service also used the conference to announce a major new publication intended to make the country’s official statistics more accessible.
Dr Iddrisu disclosed that “Ghana in Numbers”, a new flagship report, will be released before the end of the third quarter of 2026.
The publication will bring together key national statistics covering population, prices, poverty, employment, businesses, governance and other areas in a single, accessible document.
Rather than generate new statistics, the report is intended to consolidate existing data and make it easier for ministers, district planners, journalists, researchers, entrepreneurs, students and the wider public to use.
GSS will also convene the 2026 Annual Data Producers, Users and Enhancers Forum in the final quarter of the year.
The forum is expected to bring together institutions that produce data, those that use it and researchers, data scientists, technologists, development partners and communicators who help transform data into more useful products.
Researchers challenged to answer: What changes on Monday morning?
Dr Iddrisu also challenged academics and researchers attending the conference to think beyond publications and statistical significance.
He asked researchers to subject their work to three tests: what new knowledge does it generate, what practical problem does it solve and how can the findings be translated into policy, institutional practice or a development intervention?
He argued that this pathway should be considered from the design stage of research rather than after publication.
Where a study identifies regional disparities in education, healthcare or employment, he said, the critical question should be what a policymaker ought to do differently as a consequence of the findings.
“The question is what a policymaker should do differently on Monday morning because of it,” he said.
Policymakers were equally urged to engage researchers beyond conference presentations, clearly communicate the evidence they require and pose difficult practical questions that can make research more useful.
AI can help statistics – But must not replace human judgement
Artificial intelligence also featured prominently in the Government Statistician’s address.
Dr Iddrisu acknowledged the potential of AI to transform official statistics through automated processing, quality checks, anomaly detection, forecasting, geospatial analysis and faster dissemination.
But he strongly cautioned against allowing technology to replace professional statistical judgement.
“AI must augment statistical expertise; it must never replace statistical judgement,” he said.
He stressed that professional independence, methodological integrity, transparency, confidentiality and quality assurance remain fundamental to the credibility of official statistics.
The challenge, he argued, is therefore no longer simply whether AI is capable of performing a particular statistical task, but whether it should be used, under what conditions and whether its output can remain statistically sound and ethically defensible.
To provide stronger safeguards across Ghana’s National Statistical System, Dr Iddrisu revealed that two instruments have been developed: a Data Quality Assurance Framework and a Code of Ethics and Practice.
The two documents are expected to receive Cabinet approval, after which institutions across the statistical system will be encouraged to adopt them.
Future Statisticians will need more than statistics
The Government Statistician also used the platform to address students and early-career professionals entering an increasingly technology-driven profession.
He said the next generation of statisticians would require skills extending beyond traditional statistical methods to include programming, data science, artificial intelligence, visualisation, ethics and an understanding of public policy.
But he said technical training alone would not be enough.
Young professionals, he argued, must develop curiosity, integrity and the ability to explain complex analyses in language that decision-makers and ordinary citizens can understand.
“If people cannot understand our statistics, our statistics cannot serve them,” he said.
Dr Iddrisu further called for stronger collaboration among universities, government, industry and development partners, arguing that none of the institutions can build a modern statistical system in isolation.
He said universities contribute methods and knowledge, government provides the policy and implementation environment, industry brings technology and investment, while development partners support institutional capacity.
From data to measurable public value
Concluding his address, the Government Statistician warned that Ghana’s increasingly complex development challenges could not be solved using outdated data, methods and thinking.
He urged participants to ensure the conference produces more than academic presentations by building partnerships, challenging assumptions and developing practical solutions.
“Let us move from data to insight, from insight to evidence, from evidence to policy, and from policy to measurable public value in the lives of our citizens,” Dr Iddrisu said before formally declaring the conference open.
The 4th Annual Statistics and Data Science Conference is organised by the Ghana Statistical Association in collaboration with institutions including Tamale Technical University and the University for Development Studies, bringing together Ghana’s statistics, research, data science and policy communities in Tamale for discussions on how innovation can move beyond research outputs to produce real-world development impact.
By Wisdom Sarfo
