By Joshua Worlasi AMLANU ([email protected] )
The economy continues to recover strongly, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 7.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.
This is a significant improvement from the 2.2 percent recorded in Q3 of 2023. Provisional data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) attributes this growth mainly to the mining and quarrying sector, followed by information and communication, crops, construction and manufacturing.
On average, the economy grew by 6.3 percent over the first three quarters of 2024 – a notable increase compared to the 2.6 percent growth recorded in the same period of 2023.
In terms of non-oil GDP, growth was 7.7 percent. On a quarter-on-quarter (q/q) basis, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.7 percent; slightly above the 1.6 percent recorded in Q2 and driven by increased activity across several sectors.
Industry, service lead
The industry sector emerged as the fastest-growing segment, recording a 10.4 percent YoY growth in real terms – driven primarily by mining and quarrying. This was followed by the services sector at 6.4 percent while the agriculture sector recorded a growth rate of 3.2 percent.
Unsurprisingly, mining and quarrying stood out within the industry sector, expanding by 17.1 percent YoY and contributing significantly to the sector’s overall performance.
The construction sub-sector also showed signs of modest revival with an annual growth rate of 10.3 percent. However, the water and sewerage sub-sector saw a decline of three percent, reflecting uneven growth across the sector.
Again, the services sector – which accounted for the largest share of GDP at 42.9 percent – grew by 6.4 percent over last year. Information and communication led the charge within the sector, with a 17.1 percent growth over the comparable period of 2023.
This was attributed to the increasing role of technology and digital services in the economy.
However, ‘other personal service activities’ experienced a contraction of 3.4 percent – highlighting challenges in non-essential service categories.
The agriculture sector recorded a modest growth rate of 3.2 percent. Within the sector, crops expanded by 5.9 percent while fishing suffered a steep contraction of 21.7 percent year-on-year.
Expenditure patterns, economic drivers and risks
From an expenditure perspective, the report cited “gross capital formation (24.5 percent), government final consumption expenditure (3.4 percent) and household final consumption expenditure (3.0 percent)” as the main drivers of GDP growth in the quarter.
However, the steep decline in net exports, which fell by 117.1 percent YoY, emerged as a significant drag on the economy.
The GSS noted the sharp drop in net exports can be attributed to increasing trade imbalances, presenting a potential risk to sustained growth.
