The recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicates that Ghana’s economy saw a 7.5% in January, showing a continued momentum at the start of the year, although it is 0.7% slower compared to last year’s growth, which was 8.2% in the same month of 2025.

According to the latest Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth (MIEG) data, the services sector, including finance and banking, education, and healthcare, remained the main driver of growth, expanding by 9.6% and contributing 54.3% to overall economic growth.

The industrial sector, which includes manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, utilities, comes after the services sector is the industrial sector. It followed with a 7.2% increase, accounting for 29.0%, while agriculture recorded the slowest growth at 4.5%, contributing 14.0%.

The growth rate was announced by Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, who noted that the notable performance in services marks the sector’s significant role in the economy, highlighting Ghana’s gradual shift towards a service-led growth model.

While some sectors are recording significant growth, the GSS report also shows a snail-paced growth rate in the Agriculture sector, which is worrying due to its role in granting employment opportunities to a great number of the public; however, adding that, there is still room to make more products and add more value.

Experts say that to keep the economy growing through 2026, the country needs a clear plan. This plan should focus on improving the industry, making agriculture more productive, and continuing to grow the services sector so the economy becomes stronger and more balanced.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s economic outlook for 2025 was slightly downgraded by the World Bank, with the institution forecasting a 3.9% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, lower than both the government’s projection of 4.4% and the World Bank’s earlier forecast of 4.3%.

The updated projection was contained in the April 2025 edition of the Africa Pulse Report, where the Bretton Woods institution also anticipated modest improvements in the country’s economic performance over the next two years, projecting a growth rate of 4.6% in 2026 and 4.8% in 2027.

According to the World Bank, weather-related uncertainties remained a major concern, especially as they affected key export commodities such as cocoa in both Ghana and neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. These climate disruptions also caused ripple effects on global cocoa stockpiles and pricing.

The report noted: “On average, the response to extreme weather events such as droughts and floods has diverted up to 9.0% of African governments’ budgets and rendered losses of 2.0% to 5.0% of economic activity.”

Despite the external challenges, Ghana had begun to show signs of economic rebound. The World Bank highlighted renewed optimism among businesses and improvements in sectors like manufacturing and services during the early months of 2025.

“High-frequency indicators point to activity in manufacturing and services improving across countries in the region at the start of 2025. Business sentiment continues to expand in some countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia), while in others it has bounced back from contraction (Ghana and Mozambique) or remains subdued (South Africa and Uganda),” the report noted.

Specifically, Ghana’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose from 47.9 in January to 50.6 in March 2025, indicating a return to growth territory. The World Bank attributed this recovery to improved demand conditions, fewer supply chain disruptions, and renewed business momentum following the December 2024 presidential elections.

Elsewhere, Sub-Saharan Africa’s overall economic growth was projected to edge up slightly from 3.3% in 2024 to 3.5% in 2025, with further acceleration expected to reach 4.3% in 2026 and 2027. However, the region’s growth continued to be weighed down by sluggish performances in some of its largest economies—namely Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa.

In March that year, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) attributed the country’s 5.7% economic growth in 2024 to the strong performance of the services sector, particularly the increased use of data and SMS under the Information and Communication Services category.

Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, March 11, former Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Anim emphasized that services contributed the most to the overall growth, surpassing other sectors.

“Of the 5.7% growth rate that we saw in GDP, the services sector contributed the most, 2.51% of the 5.7% GDP growth rate that we saw for 2024.

“Followed by the industry sector, which mining and quarrying is part of, which gold is part of, contributed to 2.24% of that.

“Within the service sector, what is driving the service sector is information and communication. And in this case, it’s data and SMS messages that we are using,” he stated.