Ghana records 3rd consecutive trade surplus

Ghana has maintained a trade surplus, exporting more than it imports since the previous year, the Second Quarter Trade Statistics by the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed.

Nevertheless, the report indicated a slight decrease in the value of exports, which fell to GH¢5.4 billion from April 2024 to June 2024.

This decline according to the report represented a significant shift compared to the figures reported in the first half of 2023.

Gold, according to the report remained Ghana’s dominant export, contributing GH¢37.0 billion (57.6 percent) of total export value in the second quarter.

Gold’s share of exports increased by about 10 percent from 47.5 percent in quarter second, 2023 to 57.6 percent in quarter second, 2024.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the report said surpassed Switzerland as the leading destination for Ghana’s gold exports, with 39.9 percent going to the UAE, followed by Switzerland (35.6 percent), South Africa (16.2 percent), and India (7.5 percent).

The report indicated that cocoa exports decreased by about GH¢4.0 billion between quarter first, 2024 and quarter second, 2024, marking the fifth consecutive quarterly decline in cocoa export values and reflecting a contraction in the cocoa sector, as indicated by recent GDP figures.

The report said China remained the largest source of imported goods, contributing GH¢12.3 billion (20.9 percent) of total imports.

“Ghana’s main trading partners remained Asia and Europe, with Asia continuing to be the largest destination for exports from the nation,” the report said.

The report said imports from Asia have been continuously increasing while imports from Europe have been declining, suggesting a substantial change in Ghana’s trading patterns.

Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Anim, highlighted price increases for both exports and imports during the quarter.

According to him, export prices surged by 40.5 percent year-on-year, primarily driven by the rising gold prices while import prices also increased by 18.9 percent.

“In the computation of nominal and real trade values, we have denominated it in cedis. The more than doubling of the nominal values were from GH¢46.3 billion around the second quarter of 2021 to the current figure of GH¢123 billion, so we have adjusted for price changes from a cedi-denominated perspective”, he explained.