According to preliminary figures from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the country’s economy slowed in the fourth quarter of 2024, expanding 3.6% year over year as opposed to 7.2% in the previous quarter.
The mining and quarrying industry decreased by 8.2 percent, while the cocoa sector shrank by 21.4%, its sixth consecutive quarterly contraction, which was the main cause of the decline.
The country’s economy was worth GH₵331.1 billion at current prices, while non-oil was worth GH₵324.3 billion.
For the first time in 2024, the current annual GDP (all inclusive, non-oil, and non-gold) surpassed GH₵1 trillion. GH₵1.17 trillion was the current GDP (oil and gold); GH₵1.12 trillion was the current GDP (non-oil); and GH₵1.08 trillion was the current GDP (non-gold).
Speaking at a news event in Accra on March 10, 2025, Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim clarified that the industry sector’s difficulties, which saw marginal growth of only 0.2 percent in the last quarter, had a major impact on the overall economic decline.
“The industry sector’s 0.2 percent growth was a major factor in the economy’s slowdown in the final quarter of 2024,” he said.
He blamed the poor performance on the steep decline in mining and quarrying, which made up roughly 43% of the industry sector’s overall value.
“The 0.2% that we observed for the industry sector and the 3.6 overall growth rate are greatly impacted once you are witnessing an 8.2% contraction in the mining and quarrying sector,” he clarified.
The agricultural and industrial sectors face challenges.
Notwithstanding mining difficulties, the construction subsector appeared to be rebounding, growing for the first time in a year.
“We saw an expansion in the construction sub-sector in all four quarters of 2024, in contrast to previous years that saw a contraction,” Prof. Annim said.
Despite a 3.1% increase, the agriculture sector’s performance was hindered by the ongoing decline in cocoa, Ghana’s main export product. Due to persistent issues like unfavorable weather, disease outbreaks, and interruptions in global supply networks, the cocoa industry declined by 21.4%.
The services sector remained the dominant contributor to GDP, accounting for 49.2 per cent, followed by industry at 31.9 per cent and agriculture at 19.0 per cent.
Prof. Annim noted that the mining and quarrying sector had performed well in the first three quarters of 2024, contributing to industry growth. However, the fourth-quarter downturn in mining significantly impacted the economy’s overall trajectory.
“Until the last quarter of 2024, mining and quarrying was doing very well from the perspective of the extractives. In the first three quarters, we saw positive influences both from the mining and quarrying and the construction sub-sectors,” he observed.
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