By Eugene Davis
Ghana’s economy grew by a provisional 6.0 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, including oil and gas, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The latest growth rate marks a moderation from the 6.6 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2025.
Growth excluding oil and gas was weaker, with non-oil real GDP expanding by 5.4 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, compared with 8.5 per cent a year earlier.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP grew by 1.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, down slightly from the 1.6 per cent recorded in the preceding quarter.
The figures point to continued expansion in the economy, although the pace of growth has eased, particularly in non-oil activity compared with the strong growth recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Services remain the main engine
The services sector remained the largest component of the Ghanaian economy in the second quarter, accounting for 45.9 per cent of GDP at basic prices. Industry accounted for 33.1 per cent, while agriculture represented 21.0 per cent.
Services also recorded the strongest real GDP growth among the three major sectors, expanding by 8.0 per cent year-on-year. Industry grew by 4.3 per cent, while agriculture recorded growth of 3.9 per cent.
The sectoral figures point to a continued dominance of services in driving economic activity, even as growth across the broader economy moderated from the previous year.
Agriculture: forestry expands, fishing contracts
Within agriculture, forestry and logging recorded the strongest expansion, growing by 10.7 per cent year-on-year and 2.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis in the second quarter of 2026.
Fishing, by contrast, recorded the sharpest contraction. The subsector declined by 24.7 per cent year-on-year and by 5.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The wide divergence between the two subsectors underscores the uneven performance within agriculture during the quarter.
Industry: manufacturing leads growth
Manufacturing was the strongest-performing industrial subsector, expanding by 6.6 per cent year-on-year and 1.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Water and sewerage was the weakest performer, contracting by 0.6 per cent year-on-year and 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The performance of the industrial subsectors provides a more mixed picture than the headline sectoral growth rate, with manufacturing expansion offset by weakness in water and sewerage.
Information and communication drives services
Within the services sector, information and communication recorded the strongest growth, expanding by 30.9 per cent year-on-year and 6.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Accommodation and food service activities recorded the largest contraction, declining by 7.8 per cent year-on-year and 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The strong performance of information and communication reinforces the growing importance of digital and communications-related activity to Ghana’s services economy, while the contraction in accommodation and food services points to continued weakness in parts of the consumer-facing economy.
First-half growth stands at 6.2%
For the first half of 2026, real GDP growth, including oil and gas, stood at a provisional 6.2 per cent year-on-year, compared with 6.4 per cent in the same period of 2025.
Non-oil real GDP grew by 5.9 per cent over the first six months of the year, compared with 8.2 per cent during the corresponding period of 2025.
The sectoral breakdown shows that services remained the strongest-performing major sector, recording half-year growth of 7.5 per cent. Industry followed with growth of 5.6 per cent, while agriculture expanded by 3.9 per cent.
Services also made the largest contribution to overall real GDP growth during the first half, accounting for 52.6 per cent of growth. Industry contributed 29.3 per cent, while agriculture contributed 13.3 per cent.
Net indirect taxes accounted for the remaining 4.8 per cent of overall GDP growth.
Growth remains resilient, but composition matters
The first-half figures show an economy continuing to expand at a solid pace, but with a notable moderation in non-oil growth compared with 2025. The composition of growth is also significant: services are doing much of the heavy lifting, while agriculture remains comparatively subdued and industrial growth is more moderate.
The strong expansion in information and communication stands out as one of the clearest areas of momentum. At the same time, the sharp contraction in fishing and the weakness in accommodation and food services highlight pockets of vulnerability beneath the headline numbers.
With second-quarter overall growth at 6.0 per cent and first-half growth at 6.2 per cent, the latest data point to continued economic expansion, albeit at a slower pace than the unusually strong growth rates recorded in several parts of the economy a year earlier.
