Ghana has reduced the prevalence of stunting significantly, well below the African average and at a faster rate than neighbouring countries. The country has shown hardly any progress on the wasting indicator. Exclusive breastfeeding increased at a very steep rate up to 62% in 2008 but the rate has been falling back since then. Some progress has been made towards achieving the target of reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age, with 35.4% of women aged 15 to 49 years now affected. This decline must go faster to get back on track.

Service coverage shows mixed results. Antenatal care has much improved and immunization has been consistently high over the last two decades. The percentage of people using safely managed sanitation tripled from 4% to 12% since 2000 but is still well below the desired 50% range. School completion by girls improved strongly but is still below 50%. The estimated GDP losses were 6.8% in 2012. Though low birthweight and associated mortality remain off track, the strong reduction in stunting since then may have improved the GDP losses more recently.