Ghana records 3rd consecutive trade surplus but quarter 2 numbers decline marginally – GSS

The country continued to export more than what it imports since last year, according to the Second Quarter Trade Statistics released by the Ghana Statistical Service.

However, the report showed the value recorded from April 2024 to June 2024 declined marginally to GH¢5.4 billion.

This also marks a substantial reversal in terms of what the country recorded in the first half of 2023.

Gold remained Ghana’s dominant export, contributing GH¢37.0 billion (57.6%) of total export value in the second quarter. Gold’s share of exports increased by about 10% from 47.5% in quarter 2 2023 to 57.6% in quarter 2 2024.

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

However, cocoa exports decreased by about GH¢4.0 billion between quarter 1, 2024 and quarter 2, 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.

China remained the largest source of imported goods, contributing GH¢12.3 billion (20.9%) 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.

Interestingly, 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% year-on-year, primarily driven by the rising gold prices while import prices also increased by 18.9%.

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 said