Ghana loses US$11.4 billion in small-scale gold to smuggling – IMF report

Ghana is estimated to have lost 229 tonnes of artisanal and small-scale gold worth US$11.4 billion to smuggling between 2019 and 2024, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.

The report said the gold is missing from Ghana’s official trade data, highlighting the scale of smuggling within the country’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.

It noted that smuggling has become a critical challenge for Ghana, with significant discrepancies emerging between the country’s reported gold exports and import records of destination markets.

How classroom economics comes to life in Ghana’s monetary policy decisions

In 2023, the discrepancy between gold exports reported by Ghana and imports recorded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) exceeded US$4 billion, according to the report.

The IMF said the ASGM sector has been present in Ghana for decades, although its contribution to total gold production did not exceed 10 percent until 2004.

However, production from the sector has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, driven partly by a sharp increase in the nominal price of gold.

The report said ASGM production overtook large-scale gold mining (LSGM) production for the first time in 2025, while activity continues to intensify and spread to new regions.

It also noted that the term “galamsey”, derived from “gather them and sell”, is commonly used to describe illegal mining, although it can sometimes refer to legal artisanal and small-scale mining activities.

According to the IMF, Ghana has faced longstanding difficulties in formalising the ASGM sector, including gold smuggling, challenges in mobilising fiscal revenue and widespread environmental degradation linked to illegal mining.

Successive efforts have been made to address these challenges, including the legalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining in 1989 and the implementation of the Small-Scale Mining Project in the early 1990s.

Other interventions cited include the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining in 2017 and the Community Mining Scheme launched in 2019.

Despite these measures, the report said smuggling remains a major challenge to the sector and Ghana’s ability to capture the full economic benefits of its gold production.

The trade discrepancies highlighted in the report suggest that a significant volume of gold produced in Ghana may be leaving the country outside official channels.

The IMF said efforts to combat smuggling and improve the formalisation of the ASGM sector remain important to strengthening revenue mobilisation and addressing the environmental and governance challenges associated with illegal mining.

MA