Ghana’s trade surplus increases by 16 percent to hit $2.058bn

Latest data from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) show that Ghana’s trade balance increased by US$310 million between July and October.

This means Ghana’s trade balance grew by about 16 percent from the US$1.75 billion recorded in July 2023.

It brings the country’s total trade balance to US$2.058 billion as of October 2023, representing 2.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as captured by the Bank of Ghana’s November 2023 Summary of Economic and Financial Data.

The year-on-year interpretation indicates that this new trade balance also represents a 10 percentage points increase from the US$1.85 billion recorded in October 2022.

Currently, the country’s total exports stand at US$13.45 billion, up from the US$9.47 billion observed in July 2023.

However, it represents a 6.5 percent drop compared to the US$14.36 billion recorded in October 2022.

Gold remains the most significant contributor to exports. It contributed $6.07 billion in exports as of October 2023, compared to $4.02 billion in July 2023.

Following closely were crude oil exports, which totaled $3.06 billion in October 2023, compared to $2.04 billion in July 2023.

Cocoa came in third with $1.70 billion, up from $1.54 billion recorded in July this year.

Balance of Payment

Ghana’s balance of payment remained negative as of September 30.

The country had a balance-of-payments deficit of $617.0 million, which is about 0.8% of GDP.

The Capital and Financial Account Balance was $1.47 billion in deficit.

In addition, Gross International Reserves were $5.15 billion in October 2023, equivalent to nearly Net International Reserves amounting to US$2.15 billion.

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