Ghana

ECONOMICS

Main Crops:
Cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber

Natural Resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber

Major Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing


Ghana has a market-based economy with relatively few policy barriers to trade and investment in comparison with other countries in the region, and Ghana is endowed with natural resources. Ghana's economy was strengthened by a quarter century of relatively sound management, a competitive business environment, and sustained reductions in poverty levels, but in recent years has suffered the consequences of loose fiscal policy, high budget and current account deficits, and a depreciating currency.

Agriculture accounts for about 20% of GDP and employs more than half of the workforce, mainly small landholders. Gold, oil, and cocoa exports, and individual remittances, are major sources of foreign exchange. Expansion of Ghana’s nascent oil industry has boosted economic growth, but the fall in oil prices since 2015 reduced by half Ghana’s oil revenue. Production at Jubilee, Ghana's first commercial offshore oilfield, began in mid-December 2010. Production from two more fields, TEN and Sankofa, started in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The country’s first gas processing plant at Atuabo is also producing natural gas from the Jubilee field, providing power to several of Ghana’s thermal power plants.

As of 2018, key economic concerns facing the government include the lack of affordable electricity, lack of a solid domestic revenue base, and the high debt burden. The AKUFO-ADDO administration has made some progress by committing to fiscal consolidation, but much work is still to be done. Ghana signed a $920 million extended credit facility with the IMF in April 2015 to help it address its growing economic crisis. The IMF fiscal targets require Ghana to reduce the deficit by cutting subsidies, decreasing the bloated public sector wage bill, strengthening revenue administration, boosting tax revenues, and improving the health of Ghana’s banking sector. Priorities for the new administration include rescheduling some of Ghana’s $31 billion debt, stimulating economic growth, reducing inflation, and stabilizing the currency. Prospects for new oil and gas production and follow through on tighter fiscal management are likely to help Ghana’s economy in 2018.

1990 2000 2010 2020
GNI, Atlas method (current US$) (billions) 5.85 6.47 30.63 72.86
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) 400 340 1,240 2,340
GNI, PPP (current international $) (billions) 18.05 33.52 72.47 184.34
GNI per capita, PPP (current international $) 1,220 1,740 2,920 5,930
GDP (current US$) (billions) 5.89 4.98 32.2 68.53
GDP growth (annual %) 3.3 3.7 7.9 0.4
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %) 31.2 27.2 16.6 7.1
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) 45 35 28 19
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP) 17 25 18 30
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) 17 49 29 32
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) 26 67 46 36
Gross capital formation (% of GDP) 14 24 13 19
Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) 12.5 18.1 16.7 14.7
Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) .. -6.5 -7.2 -4.3
States and markets
Time required to start a business (days) .. 21 11 13
Domestic credit provided by financial sector (% of GDP) .. .. .. ..
Tax revenue (% of GDP) 11.4 17.2 13.4 12
Military expenditure (% of GDP) 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.4
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) 0 0.7 70.4 130.2
Individuals using the Internet (% of population) 0 0.2 7.8 53
High-technology exports (% of manufactured exports) .. .. 2 1
Statistical Capacity Score (Overall Average) (scale 0 - 100) .. .. 66 71
Global links
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) 36 93 59 39
Net barter terms of trade index (2000 = 100) 100 100 183 190
External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) (millions) 3,881 6,743 8,365 31,323
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) 38.8 19 3.4 12
Net migration (thousands) -16 25 -50 -50
Personal remittances, received (current US$) (millions) 6 32 136 4,292
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) (millions) 15 166 2,527 1,876
Net official development assistance received (current US$) (millions) 559.7 600.7 1,697.20 936.3