Ghana's balance of payments position improved significantly in 2024 compared with 2023, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has disclosed.

This was driven by reduced external sector payments, lower capital outflows, and increased resource inflows from the International Monetary Fund’s Economic Credit Facility (ECF)programme.

In its 2024 State of Ghana Economy Report (SGER), the capital and financial account saw lower net outflows mainly due to decreased portfolio outflows and debt repayment.

With respect to the current account position, merchandise exports rose, led by increased gold and crude oil exports.

At the same time, merchandise imports also grew, driven by non-oil imports and a marginal increase in oil related imports.

The reserve account increased to 4.0 months of imports–compared to the 3.0-month target. This was due to the gold-for reserves programme and higher current and financial accounts.

Trade Balance

For the trade sector performance, Ghana’s trade balance was US$4.980 billion in 2024, up from US$2.647 billion in 2023.

The value of merchandise export increased by 21.4% from US$16.657 billion in 2023 to US$20.221 billion in 2024.

The value of import also grew by 8.8% to US$15.241 billion in 2024, up from US$14.010 billion in 2023.

The share of oil imports in total imports decreased from 31.94% in 2023 to 29.04% in 2024.

Between 2020 and 2024, cocoa and timber exports declined by 16.5% and 10.2%, respectively.

Mineral exports, however, increased by 52.7%.