Ghana’s economy grew by 5.5% in the third quarter of 2025, extending a steady recovery but at a slower pace than the 7% expansion recorded a year earlier. The latest figures were presented by Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, who announced the release of the 2025 Q3 GDP estimates and outlined ongoing work to strengthen national data systems.
Dr. Iddrisu explained that the Statistical Service currently uses the production and expenditure approaches to estimate GDP, with plans to add the income approach after the ongoing rebasing exercise is completed. “With the production and expenditure approach we are able to give you performance of the economy from the angles of agriculture, industry and services… and from consumption, investment and net exports,” he said.
Nominal GDP rose to 339.4 billion Ghana cedis in Q3, up from 293.1 billion cedis a year earlier, reflecting both increased output and price changes. Non-oil nominal GDP increased to 331.5 billion cedis from 278.5 billion cedis in the same period of 2024.
On a real basis, the economy produced 50.8 billion cedis worth of goods and services in Q3, compared with 48.2 billion cedis last year, translating into a 5.5% real growth rate. Non-oil real GDP expanded by 6.8%, slightly below the 7.8% recorded in 2024 but still reflecting strong activity outside the petroleum sector.
Agriculture remained one of the quarter’s strongest performers, expanding by 8.6% and contributing 30% of the total growth. Fishing grew by 23.1% after contracting in the same period last year, while crops rose by 8.3%. Cocoa also posted a modest recovery, moving from a contraction of 21.4% in Q3 2024 to a growth rate of 1.9%.
Industry grew by 0.8%, a sharp slowdown from 11.4% last year, weighed down by an 18.2% contraction in oil and gas. Mining and quarrying fell by 2.8%, while manufacturing grew by 3.9%. “This single sub-sector pushed the broader industrial growth rate downwards,” Dr. Iddrisu said, noting that weak extractive activity continued to limit the sector’s overall impact.
Services remained the largest and strongest sector, expanding by 7.6% and contributing nearly 60% of total GDP growth. ICT led the sector with 17% growth, supported by gains in trade, transport, education, and finance.
Seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter growth was 1.3%, compared with 1.6% in the same quarter of 2024, showing continued expansion after stripping out predictable seasonal effects.
Analysing the first three quarters of 2025, Dr. Iddrisu said the economy grew 6.1%, up from 5.7% last year. The non-oil economy expanded 7.5%, reflecting broad improvements across most sub-sectors. Agriculture grew by 7.4% over the nine-month period, while industry rose 2.4% and services expanded by 8.3%.
He noted the top five expanding sub-sectors in Q3: fishing (23.1%), ICT (17%), transport and storage (10.4%), trade (10%), and crops (8.3%). The largest contractions were recorded in health and social work (–9.7%), accommodation and food services (–7.2%), other personal services (–3.5%), and mining and quarrying (–2.8%).
As part of routine updates, the Statistical Service made minor revisions to Q1 and Q2 2025 GDP figures, driven by new VAT, crop production, and electricity data. Dr. Iddrisu also released the September 2025 Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth, which showed a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.
Beyond the headline numbers, the Statistician outlined what the trends mean for households, businesses and policymakers. For households, he said improving food supply, particularly from crops and fishing, provides an opportunity to rebuild savings as price pressures ease. “This is a moment that households should actually be spending wisely and saving more,” he advised.
For businesses, he encouraged investment in areas demonstrating the strongest growth. “It would be good to shift capital and effort towards ICT, trade, transport, crops and manufacturing, where we are seeing the most growth,” he said, noting that these activities collectively drive more than 80 percent of total expansion.
On the policy front, he urged government to stabilise industry by addressing the sharp decline in oil and gas and strengthening high-growth sectors to sustain the economy’s momentum. Key programmes in the 2026 budget, he noted, must be “implemented religiously” to support industrial recovery.
Dr. Iddrisu thanked institutions and individuals who provide data to the service, stressing the importance of timely submissions. “We remain dedicated to producing timely, accurate, relevant, and credible statistics to support evidence-based decision making for national development,” he said.
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