Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana
Ghana: Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts was 47.8% in 2018. ▲ Rising
Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana, 1986–2018
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and UNICEF, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of children under 5 who received ORS packet.
Analysis
Ghana recorded 47.8% for share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in 2018.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 7.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana peaked at 48.6% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 3.0%, in 1986.
That places Ghana 36th out of 96 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 who received ORS packet | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 3.0% | — |
| 1987 | 36.0% | +1100.0% |
| 1988 | 33.5% | -6.9% |
| 1989 | 21.0% | -37.3% |
| 1993 | 28.5% | +35.7% |
| 1994 | 28.5% | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 29.2% | +2.5% |
| 1999 | 29.2% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 38.6% | +32.2% |
| 2006 | 28.8% | -25.4% |
| 2008 | 44.5% | +54.5% |
| 2011 | 35.0% | -21.3% |
| 2014 | 48.6% | +38.9% |
| 2018 | 47.8% | -1.6% |
Ghana compared with similar countries
- Ghana's 47.8% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 40.0%, 1.2× the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Ghana's 47.8% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 37.5%, 1.3× the median. (41 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | +1100.0% | 3.0% | 36.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 23.4% | 3.0% | 36.0% | 4 |
| 1990s | 28.9% | 28.5% | 29.2% | 4 |
| 2000s | 37.3% | 28.8% | 44.5% | 3 |
| 2010s | 43.8% | 35.0% | 48.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More reference data data for Ghana
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2805 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1989 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9405 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.9478 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 8.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 12.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.08 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana?
- Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts in Ghana was 47.8% in 2018, according to Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and UNICEF, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts recorded in Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 48.6% in 2014.
- What is the lowest share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.0% in 1986.
- How does Ghana rank for share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts?
- Ghana ranks 36th out of 96 countries with data for 2018.
- Is share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ghana data come from?
- The figures come from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and UNICEF, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children with diarrhea receiving oral rehydration salts. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The share of children under five years old with diarrhea, in the two weeks prior to the survey, who received oral rehydration salts.