Ghana’s economy grew by 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, returning to development after contracting for the previous two years, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The economy shrank by 0.8 and 3.2 percent in the second and third quarters of 2020, respectively.
According to the GSS, the Agriculture and Services sectors increased by 8.2 and 4.6 percent, respectively, driving the increase.
The business sector, on the other hand, shrank and added -0.4 percent to GDP, despite the fact that the industrial sub-sector grew by 14.2% throughout the time under consideration.
At a press conference in Cape Coast on Wednesday, Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Annim declared the estimates.
Information and communications, public administration and defence, and social security, health and social work, crops and cocoa, trade, vehicle repair, household products, real estate, manufacturing, and construction were the major sub-sectors that grew in the fourth quarter.
Prof. Annim stated that the Services sector remained the most important sector of the Ghanaian economy, accounting for 40% of GDP, accompanied by the Industry and Agriculture industries, accounting for 39% and 21% of GDP, respectively.
He said that in the Services market, Real Estate and Information and Communications expanded by 9.4% and 6.6 percent, respectively, relative to a 2.7 percent contraction in Real Estate operations and a 6.8% increase in Information and Communications in the third quarter.
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He predicted that the manufacturing sector will expand by 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, after contracting by 1.8 percent in the third quarter.
Hotels and restaurants, energy, mining and quarrying, technical, administrative, and support service operations, and forestry and logging were the main sub-sectors that contracted and contributed negative GDP growth in the fourth quarter.
For the fourth quarter of 2020, the GDP growth rate without oil and gas (Non-Oil GDP) is 4.5 percent, compared to 5.9 percent for the same time of 2019.
In addition, the fourth-quarter GDP growth rate, which includes oil and gas, is 3.3 percent, compared to 6.0 percent in the same timeframe of 2019.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
