The Ghana Statistical Service has launched the 2024 Integrated Business Establishment Survey.

The survey is being implemented by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the World Bank, and other key stakeholders in the public and private sectors.

The 2024 IBES will be conducted in two phases: Phase I, which is a census will provide a comprehensive listing of all business units in the country and information on their characteristics, and Phase II, will involve a sample survey of selected businesses to obtain detailed data on their activities. Field data collection for IBES Phase I commences on 15th January 2024.

Key activities preceding the data collection aimed at ensuring complete national coverage of all businesses include consultative stakeholder engagements, recruitment and training of trainers, field officers, and other officials.

The primary goal of IBES I is to produce an updated Statistical Business Register and generate important data for national development.

During IBES I, all business units in Ghana would be enumerated, irrespective of their characteristics i.e., for-profit or not-for-profit; large or small; in cities, towns or villages; at physical locations or online; at markets, shops, offices or within residential facilities or any other location.

Among others, IBES 1 will provide updated statistics on activities, locations, ownership, ages, and sizes of businesses to inform policy, planning, and monitoring of business growth and national development programmes and the current structure of Ghana’s economy to facilitate the revision of key macroeconomic indicators, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Producer Price Index (PPI), and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

It will also ensure employment status of workers employed by businesses to help bridge the gap between the labour needs of firms and the available skills and characteristics of the informal sector to guide the development of policies aimed at formalising the economy and improving the welfare of workers in the various sectors.