The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has developed an online database for accessing disaggregated census statistics.

This forms part of the GSS' commitment to utilising innovative and user-friendly methods to disseminate findings from Ghana's first fully digital census and promote the uptake of the data for decision-making.

The online database called StatsBank allows users to generate customised tables and maps at the national, and sub-national levels at no cost.

The GSS StatsBank, which was launched on Thursday in Accra contains over 300 million unique statistics from published 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) reports.

In a presentation at the launching ceremony, Prof Samuel Kobina Annim noted that the StatsBank provides further opportunities for users to directly engage with data and reduce the volume of data requests to the Statistical Service.

The GSS has built this StatsBank not just for census data but will also be a repository for other surveys such as the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the Ghana Living Standards Survey," he stated.

He hinted that the GSS will engage different users such as the academic community, and policy makers going forward to maximise the use of the StatsBank.

On her part, Dr Grace Bediako, the Chairperson of the GSS Governing Board highlighted the importance of the event whose focus was using data to project not just the population but most importantly of girls in this digital age.

She noted the database would "demonstrate the utility of these statistics, making statistics widely available and gain insights into digital exclusion."

She emphasized the importance of the StatsBank saying, the 2021 population census was a significant national exercise and it is, therefore, imperative to ensure that the data is used to the fullest.

The StatsBank is accessible from https://statsbank.statsghana.gov.gh.