Ghana Posts 4.9% GDP Growth in Q1

By Adedapo Adesanya

Ghana’s economy rose 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced.

The GDP figures for Q1 2020 showed a decline from the 6.7 percent achieved in the same period last year.

According to the GSS, the services sector recorded the highest growth of 9.5 percent; the agriculture sector grew by 2.8 percent and the industry sector by 1.5 percent.

The services sector contributed 3.6 percentage points (73.1 percent) to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.9 percent in the first quarter.

The GSS explained that the main sub-sector drivers of GDP in the first quarter of 2020 were Information & Communication, Manufacturing, Education and Public Administration and Defence, and Social Security.

Information and Communication sub-sector expanded to 77.4 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from 67.6 percent in quarter one of 2019. It contributed 2.10 percentage points or 42.7 percent to GDP growth.

The country’s manufacturing sub-sector saw a lower growth of 5 percent in the period under review as against 5.6 percent in the same period of 2019. Its contribution to overall GDP growth was 0.60 percentage points or 12.2 percent.

The Public Administration & Defence, Social Security sub-sector expanded by 13.6 percent in the first quarter from 9 percent in quarter one of 2019 contributing 0.40 percentage points to GDP growth.

The trade, repair of vehicle, household goods construction, forestry and logging and professional, administrative and support activities were the negative contributors to GDP growth in the first quarter.

The Construction sub-sector for instance contracted by 6.9 percent during the period and contributed -10.6 percent to GDP growth.

GDP growth rate without oil and gas (non-oil GDP) for the first quarter of 2020 is 4.9 percent compared with the same period in 2019 with a growth rate of 6.0 percent.