Ghana recorded a trade surplus of 5.4 billion Ghana cedis (343 million U.S. dollars) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, marking the third recorded consecutive trade surplus since Q4 of 2023, according to the latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The surplus notwithstanding, Ghana saw a 53.04 percent decline in the trade surplus levels during Q2 compared with the 11. 5 billion cedis (730 million dollars) recorded in Q1 of 2024, said Samuel Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, during the quarterly release on Tuesday.
“During the second quarter, Ghana’s total trade value stood at 123 billion cedis, comprising 64.2 billion cedis in exports and 58.8 billion in imports,”Annim stated.
China remained the largest source of Ghana’s imports during the second quarter, accounting for a fifth of all imports into the West African country, whose main export commodities are cocoa, gold, and crude oil.
Notably, the share of imports from Europe has been decreasing, while imports from Asia have been steadily rising, indicating a significant shift in Ghana’s trading patterns.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the leading destination for Ghana’s gold exports accounting for 39.9 percent of gold exports and, surpassing Switzerland (35.6 percent), South Africa (16.2 percent) and India (7.5 percent. The four countries accounted for nearly 99.2 percent of Ghana’s gold exports.
“This pattern has been consistent since 2021, with the exception of the first quarter of 2023,” said Annim.
According to the report, gold remained the driving force behind Ghana’s export earnings, accounting for a substantial 57.6 percent of the total exports.
However, the share of cocoa beans and products declined slightly during the quarter from 21 percent to 20 percent.
The report also indicated that the export value of cocoa beans declined from 5.1 billion cedis in the first quarter of 2024 to 1.1 billion cedis in the second quarter of 2024, a slowdown of 4.0 billion cedis of export value.
In percentage terms, for the fifth consecutive quarter there was a decline in the export value of cocoa beans with a decline of 26.9 percent being recorded in the quarter.