GDP grows 6.6% in Q3 2021
Data from the Ghana Statistical Service indicates that Ghana’s economy grew by 6.6% in the third quarter of this year.
Compared to the same period last year – Q3 2020 – GDP growth rate stood at -3.2%.
With oil, the economy grew at a rate of 8.6% in the nine months of 2021.
This is a significant increase from what was recorded in the same period last year, which was a contraction, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The main sub-sectors that expanded in quarter three of 2021 are Education (24.2%); Health & Social Works (20.5%); Information & Communication (17.0%); Professional Administrative & Support (16.7%); Hotel & Restaurants (16.4%); Public Administration & Defence, Social Security (16.3%), Fishing (14.3%); Real Estate (11.5%); Crops (9.8%).
For sectoral growth rates, the Services sector recorded the highest growth rate of 13.4%, followed by the Agriculture sector with 9.2%.
However, Industry contracted by 2.0%. This was as a result of contraction in the mining sub-sector.
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Manufacturing (7.5%), Water supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities (6.7%, Electricity (5.1%), and Construction (1.7%) however all recorded expansion in their sub-sectors.
Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, explained that this is the highest growth rate since the second quarter of 2019 which recorded 7.5 percent growth rate for non-oil GDP.
According to the data, the Services sector was the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy in the third quarter of 2021 with a share of 45% of GDP at basic prices.
The GDP share of Industry and Agriculture were 31% and 24% respectively.
The GDP (Including Oil & Gas) estimate at constant 2013 prices for the 3rd quarter of 2021 was ¢43.09 billion compared to ¢40.440 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2020.
The Non-oil GDP at constant 2013 prices for the 3rd quarter of 2021 was ¢39.974 billion compared to ¢36.82 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2020.
