Ghana’s export earnings rose to US$18.29 billion in the first six months of 2026, driven largely by higher gold exports, Bank of Ghana (BoG) data have shown.

The increase helped widen the country’s trade surplus to US$8.81 billion at the end of June 2026, from US$5.76 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

According to the BoG data, total export earnings increased by US$4.50 billion from US$13.79 billion recorded during the first half of 2025.

Gold exports generated US$12.50 billion between January and June 2026, compared with US$8.39 billion in the same period last year, making the commodity Ghana’s largest export and accounting for more than two-thirds of total export receipts.

Cocoa export earnings rose to US$2.29 billion from US$2.17 billion, while crude oil exports increased to US$1.71 billion from US$1.36 billion.

Receipts from other exports, however, declined marginally to US$1.79 billion from US$1.88 billion during the review period.

The Bank of Ghana data also showed that the higher export earnings contributed to an improved current account position and an increase in international reserves.

The figures reflected higher earnings from gold, cocoa and crude oil exports during the first half of the year.