Ghana exported 442 million dollars’ worth of cocoa paste last year.  That’s according to the Ghana Export and Promotion Authority. This was however 5.3 percent drop from the 2018 exports.

Figures from the Export Promotion Authority indicated that the nation exported more than 430 and 469 million dollars in the years 2017 and 2018 respectively. A little over 67 percent of the total exports of cocoa paste in 2019 went to the European Union market with the Netherlands absorbing 16 percent.

The Netherlands has maintained its dominant position as a key market destination for Ghana since 2016.  It imported 434 million dollars of cocoa paste in 2019, with Ghana controlling 16.4 percent of its total imports.  The largest competitor in the Dutch market was the Ivory Coast which had 65.8 percent of the market share.  Globally, Ghana is ranked third in the export of cocoa paste last year.

The nation’s global exports of cocoa paste represented 14.7 percent of the total world’s demand in 2019.  And there was also a dip in the global demand for cocoa paste from the country. Ivory Coast is the market leader of cocoa paste as total exports reached over 623 million dollars last year.  Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa beans, registering over 812,000 tonnes of cocoa beans in the 2018/2019 crop season.