Growth of the local economy – including Oil and Gas – reached 3.3 percent year on year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2022; lower than the same period of 2021 at 3.6 percent, according to provisional data released by the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS)
This represents the lowest growth rate since the country recovered from contractions recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data on gross domestic product (GDP) of the country reveal the Agriculture sector recorded highest growth at 5.6 percent, followed by the Services sector with growth of 3.7 percent and the Industry sector with a 1.3 percent growth rate.
In absolute terms, the real GDP – including Oil and Gas – estimated for the first quarter of 2022 was GH¢46.8billion compared to GH¢45.3billion in the first quarter of 2021.
However, the Services sector continued to be the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy in the first quarter of 2022 with a share of 45 percent of GDP at basic prices. The GDP share of Industry and Agriculture were 32 percent and 23 percent respectively.
Indeed, information from the Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) showed an annual average growth of 4.4 percent during the first quarter of 2022, largely sustained by an uptick in export and industrial production amid the recovery in credit to the private sector.
The CIEA recorded an annual growth of 4.6 percent in March 2022, compared to 4.2 and 4.4 percent in January and February respectively.
The central bank also indicates that the improvement in Domestic VAT suggests demand is picking up, and higher tourist arrivals were also recorded.
For the first quarter of 2022, the Agriculture sector expanded y-o-y by 5.6 percent compared to the same quarter of 2021. The Fishing sub-sector grew by 26.1 percent, while the Livestock sub-sector and Crops and Cocoa sub-sectors grew by 5.5 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2022. However, the Forestry and Logging sub-sector declined to -0.5 percent.
Within the Industry sector, which expanded by 1.3 percent, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities grew by 25.4 percent; the Electricity sub-sector grew to 15.9 percent; while the Manufacturing and Mining and Quarrying sub-sectors grew by 2.1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. However, the Construction sector’s growth declined to -2.6 percent.
The Services sector, the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy, grew by 3.7 percent. This was on the back of Information and Communication, and the Transport and Storage sub-sectors contributing about 26.6 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. Hotels and Restaurants, and Finance and Insurance contributed 5.3 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. The Professional, Administrative and Support sub-sector recorded the largest contraction of -12.8 percent.
