About 70 percent of businesses in Ghana generate less than GHS10,000 annually, with just 0.01 percent earning over GHS1 million, according to the latest Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES) released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The report reveals both significant growth in the number of businesses and persistent structural challenges in the economy.
It shows that Ghana’s business landscape remains overwhelmingly informal, with 92.3 percent of enterprises operating outside the formal sector.
The number of business establishments has more than tripled over the past decade, increasing from 640,000 in 2014 to 1.87 million in 2024. However, employment growth has not kept pace, with the workforce rising modestly from 3.28 million to 6.90 million over the same period.
According to the report, the economy is dominated by micro-sized enterprises—typically employing between one and five people. Micro enterprises now account for a staggering 90.4 percent of all businesses, up from just 16.6 percent in 2014.
Sector-wise, the services industry continues to lead, comprising 76.7 percent of all businesses, although its share has declined slightly over the decade. The industrial sector follows with 21.1 percent, while agriculture accounts for just 2.2 percent.
Commenting on the findings, tax analyst Francis Timore Boi called on the government to implement a comprehensive strategy to improve revenue mobilisation from the informal sector.
“So for me, I think we need a clear and holistic approach—a very simplified approach—to see how we can tax the informal sector,” he said. “Identifying 2 million taxpayers in the informal sector may not be enough. After identification, what next? How do we assess their income?”, Timore Boi noted.
He proposed exploring simplified systems such as the vehicle income tax model used for commercial drivers, though he noted even that system does not cover all.
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