The Far East accounted for the largest share of 36.1% of total exports from Ghana in the first six months of the year.

According to data from the Bank of Ghana, Other Economies followed with 17% and then Other European countries with 16.1% of the share.

The European Union (12.3%), the Rest of Africa (10.3%), ECOWAS (5.1%) and North America (3.1%) followed suit.

The estimated value of merchandise exports for the second quarter of 2020 was however $3.4 billion, indicating a decrease of $548.42 million (13.6 percent) compared with US$4.02 billion recorded in the same period in 2019.

The decrease was attributable to declining receipts from the exports of crude oil, although other exports (other minerals and non-traditional exports) and some commodities recorded lower export receipts.

Timber Products

Earnings from the export of timber products in the second quarter amounted to $29.17 million representing a decline from the 2019 exports of $40.08 million.

Other Exports

The value of “other” exports, which is made up of non-traditional exports, electricity and other minerals (bauxite, diamond, aluminium and manganese), was estimated at $566.56 million, 16.2 percent lower than the outturn in the second quarter of 2019.

Top 10 Exported Non-Traditional Items

The value of the top-ten non-traditional commodities exported during the period under review amounted to $273.44 million compared to $309.36 million recorded for the same period in 2019.

Among the top 10 non-traditional items exported were cashew nuts, prepared or preserved tuna, palm oil and its fractions and aluminium.