According to the January 2024 Monetary Policy Report from the Bank of Ghana, the real sector of the economy showed a mixed performance in the eleven months of 2023.
Consumer spending, indicated by domestic VAT collections and retail sales, saw a strong performance in November 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Domestic VAT collections increased significantly by 128.9% year-on-year to GH¢1.978 billion, while total domestic VAT for the first eleven months of 2023 rose by 66.6% to GH¢12.831 billion.
Retail sales also increased by 2.4% year-on-year to GH¢193.12 million in November 2023, up from GH¢188.60 million in November 2022. Cumulatively, retail sales for the first eleven months of 2023 rose by 30.4%.
In the manufacturing sub-sector, indicated by trends in the collection of direct taxes and private sector workers’ contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Pension Scheme (Tier-1), there was an improvement in November 2023. Total direct taxes collected increased by 135.3% year-on-year to GH¢5.880 billion in November 2023, while total direct taxes collected for the first eleven months of 2023 rose by 60.6% to GH¢44.432 billion.
However, activity in the construction sub-sector, indicated by the volume of cement sales, declined by 13.2% year-on-year in November 2023 to 231,571.37 tonnes, down from 266,695.03 tonnes a year ago. Cement sales for the first eleven months of 2023 also decreased by 25.1% to 2,358,386.77 tonnes.
Transport sector activities, indicated by new vehicle registrations by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), declined by 14.8% to 7,268 in November 2023, from 8,533 vehicles registered in November 2022. Cumulatively, vehicles registered by the DVLA within the first eleven months of 2023 decreased by 35.7% to 135,544.
Passenger arrivals, however, improved by 25.5% year-on-year to 104,157 in November 2023, compared to 82,977 arrivals a year ago. Cumulatively, for the first eleven months of 2023, there were 1,019,841 arrivals recorded at the international airport and land borders, representing a growth of 25.8% compared to the same period in 2022.
International trade at the two main harbors (Tema and Takoradi) showed improvement, with total container traffic increasing by 28.8% year-on-year to 57,738 in November 2023. However, in cumulative terms, total container traffic for the first eleven months of 2023 dipped by 3.3% to 570,711, compared to the same period in 2022.