Ghana Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 37% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, but was included in a G-8 debt relief program decided upon at the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005. Priorities under its current $38 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) include tighter monetary and fiscal policies, accelerated privatization, and improvement of social services. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2006 along with record high prices for Ghana's largest cocoa crop to date. Ghana received a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant in 2006, which aims to assist in transforming Ghana's agricultural export sector.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$31.23 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$11.06 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.8% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,400 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 37.3%
industry: 25.3%
services: 37.5% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
11.29 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 60%
industry: 15%
services: 25% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
20% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:
31.4% (1992 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 30.1% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
40.8 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
31.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.347 billion
expenditures: $5.197 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
59.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber

Industries:
mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial ship building

Industrial production growth rate:
5.1% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.648 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
5.849 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
639 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
815 million kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
7,571 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
47,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
8,041 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
45,010 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
16.5 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
22.81 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$1.47 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$4.179 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds

Exports - partners:
Netherlands 11.3%, UK 8.7%, US 6.7%, Spain 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, France 4.4% (2006)

Imports:
$7.539 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
Nigeria 16.7%, China 13%, UK 5.7%, Belgium 4.7%, US 4.7%, South Africa 4.1%, France 4.1% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$1.12 billion (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.329 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$4.668 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$1.729 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
cedi (GHC)

Exchange rates:
cedis per US dollar - 0.9 (2007), 9,174.8 (2006), 9,072.5 (2005), 9,004.6 (2004), 8,677.4 (2003)