Ghana’s economy rebounds with 5.3% GDP Q1 growth, led by services and agriculture

Ghana’s economy expanded at a faster pace in the first quarter of 2025, growing by 5.3 per cent year-on-year between January and March, up from a revised 4.9 per cent during the same period in 2024.

“This momentum reflects more than just numbers. It signals recovery and the confidence of an economy finding its rhythm in a very complex global environment,” Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu told journalists at a press briefing today (11 June 2025) in Accra.

The uptick in growth was largely fuelled by robust performance in the services sector, which remains the backbone of the Ghanaian economy, and a notable rebound in agriculture.

Services accounted for 46.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and expanded by 5.9 per cent year-on-year. Within this segment, the Information and Communication sub-sector posted the strongest growth at 13.1 per cent, followed by Financial and Insurance Activities at 9.3 per cent and Transport and Storage at 8.6 per cent.

Agriculture, which contributed 23.5 per cent to GDP, grew by 6.6 per cent, outpacing industry. Fishing emerged as the best-performing agricultural sub-sector with a 16.4 per cent growth rate. Crops, which dominate the agriculture portfolio, rose by 6.7 per cent. Cocoa, Ghana’s flagship export, registered a 3.4 per cent year-on-year increase, while livestock rose by 5.6 per cent.

The industrial sector, which made up 29.7 per cent of GDP, expanded more modestly at 3.4 per cent. Manufacturing led the industrial gains with 6.6 per cent growth, while mining and quarrying inched up by 1.4 per cent. However, the Oil and Gas segment contracted significantly by 22.1 per cent, dragged down by lower crude production. Water supply and sewerage activities also declined, shrinking by 3.7 per cent.

When stripped of oil and gas, non-oil GDP growth was a more impressive 6.8 per cent for the quarter, reflecting resilience in the broader economy.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the seasonally adjusted GDP grew by 1.4 per cent, an improvement on the 0.9 per cent recorded in the final quarter of 2024. This was led by agriculture’s 1.7 per cent and services’ 1.5 per cent growth, while industry posted a 0.9 per cent gain.

Yet, not all sectors shared in the optimism. Public Administration and Defence, Education, and Forestry and Logging all registered contractions. The public sector in particular posted a 4.2 per cent year-on-year decline and a 0.9 per cent drop compared to the previous quarter.

From the demand side, the economic rebound was underpinned by increased consumption. Government final consumption expenditure surged by 8.2 per cent, while household consumption rose by 4.0 per cent.

Investment, measured through gross capital formation, increased modestly by 1.1 per cent. However, net exports fell sharply, reflecting Ghana’s persistent trade imbalances.

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