The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced that the country's economy experienced a significant growth rate of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
According to the GSS data, there was a positive development in the real GDP, with a 1.1% increase in the first quarter, surpassing the previous quarter's record by 0.3 percentage points.
Government Statistician, Prof Samuel Kobina Annim, highlighted the key drivers behind this growth, emphasizing the contributions of the services and agricultural sectors.
“In the first quarter of 2023, the growth rate was primarily driven by the services sector, which exhibited an impressive expansion of 10.1%. This growth was predominantly influenced by the public administration sub-sector. Additionally, the agricultural sector experienced a growth rate of 4.8%,” explained Prof Annim.
Prof Annim further emphasized the significance of specific sub-sectors within these industries, noting that public administration played a crucial role in the services sector, while the livestock sub-sector demonstrated the highest growth rate of 6.6% within agriculture.
“It is important to note that although livestock exhibited the highest growth rate, the agricultural sector's overall growth was also influenced by the positive performance of crops, including cocoa, which holds the largest share,” he elaborated.
Prof Annim stressed the need to consider not only the main sectors but also the contributions of sub-sectors such as public administration and livestock, as they played instrumental roles in driving the overall growth rate.
