The April 2024 World Bank Africa Pulse Report indicates that Ghana’s economy is expected to experience a slowdown in growth in 2024, despite anticipated improved economic activity.
The report forecasts a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of about 2.9% for Ghana in 2024, a decrease from nearly 5.0% in 2023 and an expected increase to 5.0% in 2025.
Ghana, along with 14 other African countries, is projected to record a deceleration in growth in 2024. The country is also expected to contribute 0.10% to the regional GDP growth by the largest economies in the region.
In contrast, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to accelerate to 3.4% in 2024 and further to an average rate of 3.9% in 2025–26.
This rebound in growth is attributed to large countries in the region recording growth rates lower than their performance in the first two decades of the century.
The report highlights that in 2024, growth is anticipated to accelerate in nearly 70% of Sub-Saharan African countries (32 countries). However, growth rates in about half of these countries (17 countries) are projected to be below their average growth in 2000–19.
Ghana’s economy recorded a 2.9% GDP growth in 2023, surpassing the revised 1.5% forecast by the Finance Ministry but slower than the 3.1% growth recorded in 2022. The Industry sector contracted by 1.2% in 2023, compared to 0.6% GDP growth in 2022, though it remains the largest sector of the economy. The decline in the Industry sector’s GDP was primarily due to the 10.9% and 9.9% contractions in the Electricity and Construction subsectors, respectively, in 2023, with Mining and Quarrying being the only subsector that experienced growth (2.5%).