Economy expands by 6% in 2025 - Non-oil sector drives growth
Ghana’s economy expanded by 6.0 per cent from GH¢197.9 billion in 2024 to GH¢209.6 billion at the end of last year, demonstrating remarkable resilience and momentum in the year, provisional figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) yesterday have indicated.
The non-oil GDP growth (real) went up by 7.6 per cent, from GH¢187.5 billion in 2024 to GH¢201.7 billion at the end of last year, up by 7.6 per cent.
Using current prices (nominal), the total value of goods and services produced in the economy, otherwise known as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), expanded by GH¢251.3 billion from GH¢1.13 trillion in 2024 to a nominal growth of GH¢1.43 trillion.
The non-oil nominal GDP grew from GH¢1.13 trillion in 2024 to GH¢1.4 trillion for last year, using current prices.
The Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, who announced this at a press conference in Accra yesterday, also revealed that on a quarterly basis, GDP expanded by 5.8 per cent between October and December over the same period in 2024.
“This marks a significant acceleration from the 4.0 per cent growth recorded in the same period of 2024, signalling strong underlying economic momentum as the country entered 2026,” he stated.
Diversification drive yields results
Dr Iddrisu said a key highlight of the 2025 performance was the continued shift towards a more diversified economy.
The non-oil sector emerged as the primary engine of growth, which is significantly outperforming its 2024 figures and demonstrating a reduced reliance on hydrocarbon revenues.
“The services sector cemented its role as the backbone of the Ghanaian economy, contributing more than half of the total GDP growth.
Within the sector, robust performances were recorded in information and communication, transport and storage, education, as well as financial and insurance services,” he said.
The services sector posted the highest growth rate of 8.1 per cent, remaining the largest contributor to GDP, taking up 45.9 per cent of the share valued at GH¢91.4 billion of real GDP in 2025; industry taking up 31.3 per cent of the share of GDP at GH¢64.7 billion, which grew by 2.3 per cent, and agriculture, valued at GH¢44 billion with a growth rate of 6.8 per cent, accounted for 22.8 per cent of real GDP for last year.
The Government Statistician said information and communication, Crops, manufacturing, transport and storage, and education were the main drivers of GDP growth in the last quarter of last year.
Mining and quarrying, water supply, sewerage, waste Management & remediation activities, trade; repair of vehicles, household goods, forestry and logging, and accommodation, and food service activities, were the main sub-sectors that contracted in Q4 2025.
The data also mentioned that the agricultural sector staged a notable recovery, growing by over five per cent in the fourth quarter.
The rebound was fuelled by strong crop production, with the crucial cocoa subsector returning to positive growth after experiencing a sharp contraction in 2024, while the industrial sector showed modest improvement but remained a mixed bag.
The Manufacturing and Electricity sub-sectors posted gains that helped cushion the overall performance, but they were constrained by a significant downturn in oil and gas production.
“The Services sector continues to be the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy in Q4 2025, with a share of 50.6 per cent of GDP at basic prices. The GDP shares of Industry and Agriculture were 29.6 per cent and 19.9 per cent, respectively,” Dr Iddrisu pointed out.
The services sector recorded the highest real GDP growth of 8.6 per cent (year-on-year) for the last quarter, followed by agriculture at 5.3 per cent, while Industry recorded a growth rate of 1.9 per cent.
Growth concentrated in key sectors
The GSS data reveal that the expansion, while broad-based, is heavily concentrated in a few pivotal areas.
A cluster of sectors — including services, crops, gold mining, manufacturing, and transport — accounted for nearly 87 per cent of the nation's total GDP growth.
On the macroeconomic front, Dr Iddrisu stated that there were positive signs regarding price stability.
The report indicated slower growth in the GDP deflator, a broad measure of inflation, suggesting that price pressures are beginning to moderate.
Dr Iddrisu stated that overall, the provisional GDP estimates painted a picture of a resilient and rebalancing economy.
