Economy posts 3rd consecutive trade surplus

The economy continued its positive recovery in the second quarter of 2024, recording a trade surplus for the third consecutive quarter. 

This marks a turnaround from the deficit experienced in the same period last year.

The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Annim, presenting a report on Trade Statistics for the second quarter of the year in Accra yesterday, said the total trade value in second quarter of 2024 reached GH¢123 billion.

That was made up of GH¢64.2 billion in exports and GH¢58.8 billion in imports, with exports surpassing imports by GH¢5.4 billion, a feat also known as trade surplus.

The surplus is a turnaround from the GH¢3.1 billion trade deficit recorded in second quarter of last year, but a slowdown on the GH¢11.5 billion surplus recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

The report is titled “Trade Statistics: Ghana 2024 Second Quarter Export and Import Flows, Values and Price Changes”, and it was part of the GSS’ Quarterly Newsletter.

Gold leads way, cocoa slumps

Prof. Annim pointed out that gold remained the driving force behind the country’s export earnings, accounting for 57.6 per cent of the total exports.

However, the share of cocoa beans and products to total trade declined slightly during the quarter from 21 per cent to 20 per cent.

The report also indicated that the export value of cocoa beans declined from GH¢5.1 billion in the first quarter of 2024 to GH¢1.1 billion for the same period, a slowdown of GH¢4 billion in the export value.

Major trading partners

Asia and Europe continued to be Ghana’s primary trading partners, with Asia maintaining its lead as the country’s top export destination.

Notably, the share of imports from Europe has been decreasing, while imports from Asia have been rising steadily, indicating a significant shift in Ghana’s trading patterns.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the leading destination for Ghana’s gold exports, accounting for 39.9 per cent of gold exports, surpassing Switzerland, which received 35.6 per cent; South Africa, with 16.2 per cent and India, 7.5 per cent.

The four countries accounted for nearly 99.2 per cent of Ghana’s gold exports.

In terms of imports, China remained the primary source, contributing over a fifth of Ghana’s total imports. The UAE and the United Kingdom followed closely.

Prof. Annim also highlighted price increases for both exports and imports during the quarter. 

Export prices surged by 40.5 per cent year-on-year, primarily driven by the rising gold prices, while import prices increased by 18.9 per cent.

In spite of the substantial increase in nominal trade values, the real trade values (adjusted for price changes) had remained relatively stable over the past three years, the Government Statistician said.

"In the computation of nominal and real trade values, we have denominated them in Ghana 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," Prof. Annim explained.

He also cautioned against how the figures in the report are interpreted.

Prof. Annim said the price of commodities in the report must be interpreted in conjunction with their prices in the international market as well as the production output from the country.