Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in June,2016 indicated that Ghana grew by 4.9 per cent.

This is a few points up from the figure recorded during the same period in 2015.

During the first quarter of 2015, the economy grew by 4.5%.

The figures indicate that the Service sector recorded the highest growth of 8.8 percent.

The Agriculture sector followed with 2.8 percent.

Industry sector grew by a negative 1.1 percent.

The provisional quarter –on-quarter GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2016 is 1.1 percent.

This represents an estimated 8.095 million cedis in constant terms, compared with 7.718 million cedis in the first quarter of 2015.

Oil GDP at current prices for the first quarter of 2016 inclusive of the oil sector amounted to GH¢37,515.8 million compared to GH¢32,534.9 million in the first quarter of 2015.

GDP estimate at current prices without the oil sector for the first quarter of 2016 was GH¢36,892.2 million compared to GH¢31,331.9 million in the first quarter of 2015.

GDP at Constant 2006 Prices for Oil GDP for the first quarter of 2016 was GH¢8,095.0 million compared to GH¢7,718.0 million in the first quarter of 2015.

The Non-Oil GDP estimate at constant 2006 prices for the first quarter of 2016 was GH¢7,683.8 million compared to GH¢7,206.7 million in the first quarter of 2015.

GDP shares for the various sectors show that in the same period – first quarter of 2015, agriculture was 12.8%; industry was 29.9% and services was 57.3%.

Agriculture sector

The Agriculture sector grew by 0.4 percent in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2015 which recorded 2.8%.

In the Agriculture sector, Livestock subsector grew by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the 1.7% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The fishing sub sector recorded the least growth of negative 1.1% compared to 0.8% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Industry sector 

The Industry sector in the first quarter of 2016 recorded negative 1.1 percent growth compared to 7.2 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Within the industry sector, Electricity sub-sector grew by 5.8%, against 0.5% recorded in the first quarter of 2015.

The Water and Sewerage subsector recorded a growth of 2.8% compared with 5.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Mining and Quarry sub-sector recorded the least growth of negative 3.4% compared with a contraction of 2.4% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Services sector 

The Services sector grew by 8.8 percent in the first quarter compared to 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Finally, in the Services sector, Information and Communication grew by 4.3% compared with 1.3% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Health sub-sector expanded by 4.0%, same as recorded in the 3rd quarter of 2015.

However, the business, Real Estate and other Services Activates expanded by 2.2%, but the Community, Social and Personal Service Activities sub-sector recorded the least growth of 0.7%.

1st Quarter 2016 Figures Released in March 

According to the GSS, the annual growth rate in GDP measures the change in the value of the goods and services produced by the country economy during the period of a year.

Figures from the GSS suggest, the economy of Ghana expanded by 3.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2015, easing from a 3.9 percent growth in the previous period and 12.2 percent a year earlier.

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 3rd quarter of 2015 grew by 3.6% (year on-year) compared to 12.2% recorded for the 3rd quarter of 2014.

The Services sector recorded the highest growth of 4.9%, the Industry sector followed with 3.6% and Agriculture sector, 3.2%.

The Oil GDP estimate at current prices for the 3rd quarter of 2015 was GH¢38,003.9 million compared to GH¢32,779.9 million in the 2nd quarter of 2015.

The Non-oil GDP estimate at current prices for the 3rd quarter of 2015 was GH¢35,999.8 million compared to GH¢30,329.0 million in the 2nd quarter of 2015.

The Oil GDP estimate at constant 2006 prices for the 3rd quarter of 2015 was GH¢9,366.3 million compared to GH¢8,204.7 million in the 2nd quarter of 2015.

The Non-oil GDP at constant 2006 prices for the 3rd quarter of 2015 was GH¢8,822.9 million compared to GH¢7,646.9million in the 2nd quarter of 2015.

Sub-sectors that recorded double digit year-on-year quarterly GDP growth rates were Water and Sewerage (14.2 %) and  Information and Communication (12.6%).

Contractions were observed in the Hotels and Restaurants (-5.6%) and Mining and Quarrying (-2.2%) sub-sectors.

Ghana’s growth rate has been weakening since the last quarter of 2014 due to lower commodity prices and a fiscal crisis that has led the country to sign a three-year deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April 2015.

GDP Annual Growth Rate in Ghana averaged 7.20 percent from 2000 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 25 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and a record low of -3.80 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

Source: GSS & tradingeconomics.com
Source: GSS & tradingeconomics.com

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Credit: GSS
Credit: GSS

GDP Shares

The sectoral distribution in the 3rd quarter of 2015 was as follows:

  • Agriculture, 24.5%;
  • Industry, 23.4% and
  • Services, 52.1%