The Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER) has revealed a grim growth rate for the fishing sector of the economy for 2009. The sector plunged from a growth rate of 10 per cent in 2008, to a perilous -2.3 per cent in 2009. These were contained in ISSER’s 2009 report of the State of the Ghanaian Economy, launched at the Novotel Hotel in Accra on Thursday. Presenting a brief summary of the report, a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Economics Division of ISSER, Dr. Felix Asante, said the industrial sector of the economy suffered most last year, recording a growth of 1.6 per cent declining from 6.7 per cent in 2008. “In terms of performance of the various sectors of the economy, the agricultural sector grew fastest with a growth rate of 6.2 percent, followed by services with a rate of 5.9 percent and industry with a rate of 1.6 percent. Apart from the agricultural sector which recorded an increase over its 2008 growth rate of 6.0 percent, the services and industry sectors recorded declines in their growth rates from 9.3 percent and 6.7 percent respectively in 2009.” “The growth of the agricultural sector in 2009 was 0.1 percentage points higher than the 2008 rate and 0.4 percentage points higher than the projected rate for the year. This was as a result of the 41.4 percentage increase in the crops and livestock sub-sector from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 8.2 percent in 2009. The cocoa sub-sector also increased by 24.0 percent over the year from 5.0 percent to 6.2 percent. Growth in the forestry and logging remained unchanged from their 2008 rate of 3.5 percent,” he explained. The services sector of the economy, he stated, “was the second fastest in terms of growth rate though its rate represents almost a 37 percent decline over the rate recorded in 2008. This registered rate of growth for the services sector in 2009 also indicates 0.7 percentage points decline over the projected rate for the year. The sub-sector which actually held up the growth of the services sector in 2009 was the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services sub-sector which experienced a decrease in its growth rate from 9.6 percent in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009. All the other sub-sectors experienced declines in their growth rates.”