The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the primary destination for Ghana’s gold exports in the third quarter of 2024, receiving about 40% of the country’s total gold shipments. This is according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) Quarterly Trade Newsletter. Switzerland followed as the second-largest destination with 30.1%, while South Africa and India ranked third and fourth, accounting for 22.2% and 6.8%, respectively. Together, these four countries absorbed 99.2% of Ghana’s gold exports during the period.
China was the largest destination for Ghana’s mineral and oil exports, receiving 29.8%. Nearly a quarter of cocoa exports (22.2%) went to the Netherlands, while Vietnam led in vegetable product imports at 17%. Burkina Faso emerged as the top destination for iron and steel exports, taking 55.9% of the total.
For imports, China remained the dominant origin for five of the ten product categories analyzed. However, the United Kingdom was the primary source of mineral fuels and oils, closely followed by the UAE. Burkina Faso led as the top origin for vegetable product imports.
Gold bullion remained Ghana’s top export product, valued at GHS 46.5 billion, which was over four times the value of crude petroleum, the second-highest export at GHS 11.6 billion. Other notable exports included cocoa paste, valued at GHS 2 billion (2.7% of export value), manganese ores at GHS 1.5 billion (2%), and tuna at GHS 0.6 billion (0.9%). Collectively, the top five exports—gold, crude petroleum, cocoa paste, manganese ores, and tuna—accounted for the majority of the country’s export value.
The share of gold in Ghana’s exports rose significantly from 42.5% in Q3 2023 to 62.1% in Q3 2024. Meanwhile, mineral fuels and oils saw their share halve during the same period. Cocoa beans and related products experienced a modest decline, dropping from 4.8% to 4.6%.
Economists have called on the government to implement policies that encourage value addition to Ghana’s export commodities. Enhancing the processing of raw materials domestically could significantly boost export revenues and reduce the country’s reliance on raw commodity exports.
