Ghana's GDP up by 7.3 per cent

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March 1, 2009

GHANA’S Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 7.3 per cent last year, according to the latest figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
In monetary terms, this represents GH¢795.1 million from the previous year’s quantum of GH¢741.2 million.
The gross domestic product is the total value of final goods and services produced in the country during the period.
Announcing the revised GDP growth rate for 2008 at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Head of the Economics Department at the GSS, Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan, said the services sector recorded the highest growth rate of 9.3 per cent followed by the industry sector with 8.1 per cent and the agriculture sector, 5.1 per cent.
According to him, the services sector share of total GDP was 31.81 per cent, 1.78 percentage points below that of the agriculture subsector.
“All the subsectors grew more than eight per cent, except community, social and personal service and producers of private non-profit services. Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants subsector recorded the highest growth of 10.16 per cent followed by government services subsector (9.7 per cent),” he said, and added that all estimates for the subsectors would be reviewed.
Mr Duncan said the industry sector share of total GDP was 25.89 per cent, and that the mining and quarrying subsector grew by 2.11 per cent.
Gold, he said, recorded increase in output while all other minerals (manganese, bauxite and diamond) recorded negative growth, explaining that the electricity subsector recovered from a negative growth in 2007 to record an increase of 19.42 per cent in 2008.
He said the manufacturing subsector, which had a negative growth in 2007, grew by 4.53 per cent, and that “further estimates of this subsector will be undertaken as more information is received”. He said growth in the construction subsector was 12 per cent and that this was also subject to revision.
With regard to agriculture, Mr Duncan said the sector continued to dominate the economy with a 33.59 per cent share of total GDP, and that the growth of 5.1 per cent was driven by crops and the livestock subsector, which grew by 5.82 per cent.
Good rainfall pattern, he said, coupled with increase in area under cultivation and use of improved seeds led to increase in output of the crops subsector.
Mr Duncan said the provisional figures for the other subsectors had not been revised, and were, therefore, subject to change when the full data were available.
He said the final growth rate for the period under review would be released in April next year when all the other data that were yet to be submitted were provided, adding that the data available and used were between 60 and 70 per cent of the total needed.
He said GSS had planned to undertake a number of initiatives including releasing quarterly GDP.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, said in GDP compilations, the GSS depended on others — public and private financial and administrative institutions — to fulfil the requirements of the GDP estimation process.
“The major setback at every stage of the estimation is due to delays in reporting for some institutions and non-responses from others,” she said, adding, “Our ability to adequately report of these statistics and the amount of data sources covered at each successive stage is dependent on the co-operation of many of the agencies.”
She, therefore, urged institutions and organisations to supply their data on time.
She said the GSS had over the past five years embarked on a programme to revitalise the national statistical system and the production and dissemination of stastics, and that “this has entailed the introduction of a number of products and services to enhance the effectiveness of decision-making at all levels”.
Dr Bediako said the service had committed itself to promoting change that should enhance the management and performance of the system, among other things.
She said a strategic plan, the Ghana Statistics Development Plan (GSDP), was developed and launched last year to provide a framework for systematically tackling the most pressing problems confronting the national system.
“The plan recognises the actual and potential contributions of the data-producing partners of the statistical system and deals with the issues regarding collective and institutional capacities,” she said.