Ghana records 2.0 per cent GDP growth in third quarter

Accra, Dec 20, GNA – Ghana’s economy grew by 2.0 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said on Wednesday. 

The growth is 0.7 percentage point lower than the 2.7 per cent recorded in the same period of 2022. 

The 2023 third quarter GDP is also slower than the 3.3 per cent for first quarter of 2023 and 3.2 per cent for the second quarter of 2023, making it the slowest growth the country has seen this year. 

In nominal terms, the GDP estimate at current prices for the third quarter of 2023 was GHS212.3 billion, compared with GHS152.3 billion for the same period in 2022. 

The Statistical Service noted that the non-oil GDP was 2.1 per cent. 

On a sectoral basis, figures from the Statistical Service showed that Agriculture and Services sectors expanded by 5.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively, while Industry contracted by 4.3 per cent in quarter three. 

All sub-sectors expanded, with the Crops sub-sector having the highest growth rate of 7.0 per cent, except Forestry and Logging which contracted by 6.9 per cent. 

All the 10 sub-sectors in the Services sector expanded with Information and Communication sub-sector having the highest GDP growth rate of 17.3 per cent. 

For the Industry sub-sector, Water and Sewerage expanded by 9.4 per cent, followed by Manufacturing – 2.1 per cent, while the remaining sub-sectors – Mining and Quarrying, Construction and Electricity, all contracted. 

This development comes as the government expects a 1.5 per cent growth by the end of 2023, with a projected rebound to 2.8 per cent in 2024, 4.7 per cent in 2025 and 4,9 per cent in 2026. 

GNA