Ghana: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

After a decade of good economic performance, marked by strong and sustained growth (an average of 6%), Ghana underwent through the effects of the global recession. Consequently, the GDP growth rate dropped but it has experienced a substantial increase since 2010 and it was established at 13.5% in 2011, this was due to important public investments in the oil sector and the income expected from new oil fields. This strong growth rate is also supported by mining activities in the country since Ghana is the second largest producer of gold in Africa and also by a solid agricultural sector. As an example, Ghana is the second global producer of cocoa, it has recorded an increase of 54% of its production in 2011.

Ghana was promoted in July 2011 to a middle-income country and it ranks #60 on the "Doing Business" list of 2011 published by the World's Bank.

Nevertheless, in the context of the three-year agreement concluded with the IMF on the Extended Credit Facility, the IMF reminded the country that it required to control its inflation (8.7%), to improve the management of its budgetary and current accounts deficit, to insure a reduction on its spending and to close the gaps in the growth rates.

At the beginning of March 2011, the government adopted a law aiming to allocate most of the share of its oil wealth into the development of the country. The voted budget for 2012 also emphasizes on the development of infrastructures in order to attain the main objective of its Millennium Developing Goals which is to reduce by half its poverty by the year 2015. Ghana has made a considerable progress in the reduction of poverty but many challenges remain such as the reduction of unemployment, which is still very high.

Main Indicators	2009	2010	2011	2012 (e)	2013 (e)
GDP (billions USD)	25.80	32.32	38.59	45.12	50.26
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change)	4.0	7.7e	13.5e	7.3	6.1
GDP per Capita (USD)	1,116	1,364	1,588	1,810	1,966
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP)	36.2	37.4e	38.1	37.5	37.6
Inflation Rate (%)	19.3	10.7	8.7	8.7	8.1
Current Account (billions USD)	-1.03	-2.25	-2.51	-2.22	-1.68
Current Account (in % of GDP)	-4.0	-7.0	-6.5	-3.3	-

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database - Last Available Data.

Note: (e) Estimated Data

Monetary Indicators	2008	2009	2010
Foreign Debt (million USD)	4,927	5,720	-
Ghanean Cedi (GHS) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD	1.06	1.41	1.43

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Find out all the exchange rates daily on our service Currency convertor.

Main Sectors of Industry

Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment)	-	-	-
Value Added (in % of GDP)	30.2	18.6	51.1
Value Added (Annual % Change)	4.8	6.0	8.2

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Learn more about Market Analyses about Ghana on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

The Active Population in Figures

	2010
Labor Force	10,560,000

Source: CIA - The world factbook

	2009	2010
Total activity rate	-	74.60%
Men activity rate	75.20%	-
Women activity rate	73.80%	-

Source: UN - United Nations

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:: 59.4/100
Position:: Mostly unfree
World Rank:: 90/179
Regional Rank:: 11/45

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Country Risk

See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:: Free
Political Freedom:: 1/7
Civil Liberties:: 2/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:: 41/179
Evolution:: 14 places down compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals: BBC Country Profile, Ghana
Ghana Newspapers and News Sites
Allafrica, Ghana News
Afrol, News-Ghana
Ghana Information Portal

Useful Resources: Ministry of finance and economic planning
National Bank

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