Government finances
Ghana's account balance had a deficit of over 672 million U.S. dollars as of the fourth quarter of 2021. As of the same quarter, the central government's balance of payments, which measures all transactions completed with other world regions, reached a deficit of approximately 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, income generated by the country at the end of March 2022 represented only 1.3 percent of its GDP. Considering that adjustments were made for inflation in the country, the real GDP was projected to grow from 5.2 percent in 2022 to 5.1 percent in 2023. Likewise, considering the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the Ghanaian economy, real GDP growth was estimated to reach 5.1 percent in 2023.
Major contributors to national revenue
Cocoa and gold are some of the major generators of income for the country. As of the third quarter of 2021, Ghana's official gold reserves reached 8.74 metric tons. The Obuasi Gold Mine, one of the leading gold mines in the country, had over 29 ounces of mineral resources between 2019 and 2020. Ghana is the second largest cocoa producer in the world after Ivory Coast, producing more than one million metric tons of cocoa in the crop year 2020/2021. Moreover, the country placed seventh among leading cocoa bean processing countries, as it was expected to process 330 thousand metric tons of the product in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. Revenue generated by the Cocoa Processing Company Limited (CPC) reached 11.16 billion U.S. dollars as of June 30, 2020.
International trade
The services sector has been the leading economic area in Ghana since 2009, accounting for around 45 percent of the country's GDP in 2020. As of 2019, export of services from the country added up to around 8.8 billion U.S. dollars, while its imports amounted to 10.69 billion U.S. dollars. On the other hand, while goods imported into the country reached a value of 12.43 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, those exported amounted to 14.47 billion U.S. dollars in the same year.
Overall, as of the fourth quarter of 2021, the preliminary balance of payments on exports of gold, timber, cocoa beans, and crude oil in the country stood at about 1.2 billion, 35.4 million, 552 million, and 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
