Data released by the Bank of Ghana indicates that the country’s exports reached $9.22 billion in the first half of 2024.
This marks a significant increase from the $2.87 billion recorded in January 2024 and the $8.14 billion recorded during the same period in 2023.
The surge in export value was primarily driven by gold and oil exports, which collectively contributed $7.02 billion, or 76.09% of the total export value.
Despite facing production and supply challenges, Cocoa exports added $760 million, accounting for 8.23% of the total. Other exports contributed $1.44 billion, or 15.65%, to the total export value within the review period.
Imports for the first half of 2024 also saw a significant increase, reaching $7.42 billion. This is up from the $2.49 billion recorded in January 2024 and the $6.53 billion recorded in the first half of 2023.
Non-oil imports made up the bulk of the total import value, rising to $5.12 billion by the end of June 2024 from $1.84 billion in January 2024 and $4.36 billion by the end of June 2023. Oil imports amounted to $2.30 billion at the end of June 2024, an increase from $645 million in January 2024 and $2.16 billion at the end of June 2023.
With higher export values and lower import values recorded by the end of June 2024, Ghana’s trade balance for the first half of the year stood at $1.80 billion, representing 2.1% of GDP. This is an increase from the $1.60 billion trade balance recorded during the same period last year.
