Ghana’s economy expands 5.3% in first quarter of 2025 – Ghana Business News
Ghana’s economy grew by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, up from 4.9 per cent in the same period of 2024, driven by the services sector and recovery of the agriculture sector.
The agriculture sector grew by 6.6 per cent, compared to 2.4 per cent in Q1 of 2024, where fishing saw the biggest jump in agriculture, growing by 16.4 per cent.
Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, Government Statistician, at a media briefing said industry grew by 3.4 per cent in Q1 of 2025, compared to 6.7 per cent in Q1 of 2024.
He said the oil and gas sector declined sharply by 22.1 per cent, dragging the industrial sector down but the manufacturing sector was strong, growing by 6.6 per cent, showing that local production was holding up.
He said services including trade, transport, ICT, banking, and health constituted 46.8 per cent of the economy.
“The services sector grew by 5.9 per cent, with ICT leading the way at 13.1 per cent growth,” he added.
The Government Statistician said, “if we remove the oil & gas sector, the rest of the economy grew by 6.8 per cent and
this shows that Ghana’s economy is becoming more balanced, relying less on oil.”
Dr Iddrisu said seasonally adjusted, Ghana’s provisional real GDP increased by 1.4 per cent in Q1 of 2025 from 0.9 per cent in Q4 of 2024; this was 0.5 percentage points higher than what was recorded in Q4 of 2024.
He said Crops, Information and Communication, Manufacturing, Trade, Repair of Vehicles, Household Goods, Transport and Storage and Finance & Insurance were the main drivers of GDP growth in Q1 of 2025, all together contributing 84.5 per cent of the 5.3 per cent growth.
He said with agriculture growing at 6.6 per cent and the strong momentum in crops and fishing, households could benefit from government’s input subsidies and training under the Agriculture for Transformation Programme to support food security and income.
He said households could also benefit from the resulting declining inflation, adding that the services grew by 5.9 per cent, particularly in ICT (13.1 per cent), trade (7.1 per cent), and transport (8.6 per cent).
Dr Iddrisu said households should explore night-shift opportunities under the 24-Hour Economy initiative in the expanding service economy.
He said with transport, ICT, and trade services expanding, businesses in logistics, delivery, customer service, and manufacturing should adjust working models to 24-hour cycles where feasible.
He said manufacturing grew by 6.6 per cent despite oil sector decline and SMEs should leverage infrastructure, including roads, irrigation, and storage facilities to source local inputs and access markets under the AfCFTA and the Big Push Programme.
On recommendation for the government, he said mining & quarrying grew modestly by 1.4 per cent, but oil & gas declined sharply by 22.1 per cent, adding that scaling up Gold Board activities could stabilise earnings and broaden impact beyond extraction.
Dr Iddrisu said accelerating the Big Push investments in power, roads, and digital infrastructure could support private sector expansion and enhance regional competitiveness, thereby unlocking industrial growth beyond the 3.4 per cent growth.
Source: GNA
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