Ghana achieved a significant trade surplus of GH¢11.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024, amid a 20.4% increase in the average prices of export commodities compared to Q1 2023.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) highlighted this positive economic trend in its latest quarterly report.
In Q1 2024, Ghana’s exports reached GH¢59.5 billion, while imports totaled GH¢48.1 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of GH¢11.5 billion.
Gold bullion emerged as the leading export product, valued at GH¢29.7 billion, more than twice the value of crude petroleum, the second-highest export at GH¢12.2 billion.
The top five export products—gold, crude petroleum, cocoa beans, cashew nuts, and cocoa paste—collectively accounted for 82.6% of all exports.
At the launch of the Ghana 2023 Trade Report, Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Annim stated, “Total exports in the first quarter of 2024 were GH¢59.5 billion, compared to imports of GH¢48.1 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of GH¢11.5 billion.”
However, the export value of cocoa products in Q1 2024 decreased to $592.2 million, down from the average of $825.8 million recorded in the first quarters of 2021, 2022, and 2023.
“In 2022, the highest was in the first quarter. In 2023, the highest was in the first quarter, averaging about US$ 875 million for these quarters in the last three years. Then suddenly, we see a sharp decline to about $585 million in the first quarter of 2023.
“A significant decline from about $ 870 million to about US$ 580 million in the first quarter of 2023. This a situation that the agency [COCOBOD] is aware of and has found reasons that led to it, our expectation is that we minimise the vulnerabilities associated with whatever led to it [the decline in cocoa exports], and going forward we can sustain the returns from cocoa,” Prof. Anim noted.