The Ghanaian economy recorded 3.9% year-on-year (YoY) growth in the second quarter of this year, up from 3.1% growth in the preceding quarter.
According to data by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Q2,2021 performance, however, showed that when compared with the 5.7% (yoY) growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year (Q2,2020) the growth slowed down by 1.8% points.
The GSS reported that trade, manufacturing, information and communication, health and social services, and the agricultural sub-sectors were the key drivers of growth in the quarter under review, stating however, that the mining sector shrank for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Key highlights of the performance showed that non-oil growth increased to 5.2% (YoY) in Q1-2021, up from 4.6% (YoY) in Q1-2021. The agricultural sector (20.6 percent of GDP) expanded by 5.5 % (YoY) in Q2-2021, compared to 4.3% (YoY) in Q1-2021 and 5.6 percent (YoY) in Q2-2020.
The Service further reported that agriculture growth was driven by the crops sub-sector which grew by 4.5% (YoY) during the period and contributed 81.4% to the sector (from 78.8% same period last year) while fishing, forestry, and livestock sub-sectors all grew by 12.7%, 11.9%, and 5.7%, respectively
Further analysis of the GDP growth rate reflected that the services sector (50.3% of GDP) experienced strong growth, with annual growth of 11.0% (YoY) while the health & social work sub-sector recorded the strongest growth in the sub-sector, with 22.5% (YoY). No contraction was recorded in any of the sub-sectors of the service sector during the period under review.
However, after recovering from a recession in Q1-2020, the industry sector (29.1% of GDP) declined in Q2-2021 by 4.3% in the three months leading up to June-2021, after expanding by 1.3% in Q1-2021 and contracting by 7.7% in Q2-2020.
The GSS stated that although the sub-sectors of water & sewage (+20.5% (YoY)), electricity (+9.5% (YoY)), and manufacturing (+8.3% (YoY)) grew, the mining & quarrying sub-sector, the sector’s greatest contributor, continued to drag on total growth. For instance, in Q2-2021, the sub-sector shrank for the sixth consecutive quarter, falling 18.9% (YoY)
