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Ghana’s economy expanded 6% year-on-year in Q2 2026, extending its post-crisis recovery.
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Services led the gains, growing 8% and contributing 57.6% of total growth, while the ICT branch jumped 30.9%.
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Oil and gas rebounded 22.4%, reversing a 29% contraction a year earlier.
Ghana’s economy grew 6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, and strong services output drove the expansion. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced the figure on Wednesday, September 9, confirming that the West African country is climbing out of the deep downturn it suffered after the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
The services sector powered that headline number, expanding 8% year-on-year between April 1 and June 30. The sector accounts for 45.9% of GDP, and it contributed 57.6% of overall growth.
Beyond services, the other pillars of the economy also advanced. Industry grew 4.3% over the quarter, while agriculture posted 3.9%.
Within services, one branch clearly stood out. The information and communication technology (ICT) branch expanded 30.9% in Q2 2026, up from 21.3% in the same period of 2025, making it the main engine of the sector’s growth.
GSS Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu framed the trend as structural rather than temporary. “This is not a one-off spike. The ICT branch has posted double-digit growth in every quarter over the past three years. Ghana’s growth story today is substantially a digital one. That’s what the data tells us,” he said.
Hydrocarbons added further momentum to the quarter. Excluding hydrocarbons, real GDP rose 5.4% in Q2 2026. The oil and gas sector then lifted the headline figure sharply, as its activity climbed 22.4% after contracting 29% a year earlier.
The Exit From Crisis Takes Hold
The latest reading builds on the previous quarter’s performance. It follows 6.4% growth in the first quarter, and it confirms that Ghana continues to recover from the severe crisis it faced after the pandemic-driven slowdown and the war in Ukraine. The country defaulted on most of its external debt in 2022, and it has now almost completed a broad restructuring of its public debt. Ghana also secured a $3 billion financing program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May 2023. On July 27, the IMF Executive Board approved the sixth and final review of that program and released a last tranche of $371 million.
At that meeting, the IMF pointed to several notable gains, including falling inflation and rising foreign-exchange reserves. The Fund added that Ghana’s structural reforms and favorable commodity prices are stabilizing the economy and reducing debt-related risks.
Walid Kéfi
