Economy - overview Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer 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 41% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. In 1995-97, Ghana made mixed progress under a three-year structural adjustment program in cooperation with the IMF. On the minus side, public sector wage increases and regional peacekeeping commitments have led to continued inflationary deficit financing, depreciation of the cedi, and rising public discontent with Ghana's austerity measures.

GDP purchasing power parity - $36.2 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,000 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 41%
industry: 14%
services: 45% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 27.7% (1997 est.)

Labor force
total: NA
by occupation: agriculture and fishing 61%, industry 10%, services 29% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate 20% (1997 est.)

Budget
revenues: $1.39 billion
expenditures: $1.47 billion, including capital expenditures of $370 million (1996 est.)

Industries mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing

Industrial production growth rate 4.2% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity 1.3 million kW (1997)

Electricity - production 600 million kWh (1996)

Electricity - consumption per capita 373 kWh (1996)

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

Exports
total value: $1.57 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: gold 39%, cocoa 35%, timber 9.4%, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, and diamonds (1996 est.)
partners: UK, Germany, US, Netherlands, Japan, Nigeria

Imports
total value: $1.84 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: capital equipment, petroleum, consumer goods, foods, intermediate goods
partners: UK, Nigeria, US, Germany, Japan, Netherlands

Debt - external $5.2 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $472 million (1993)

Currency 1 new cedi (C) = 100 pesewas

Exchange rates new cedis per US$1 - 2,271.70 (January 1998), 2,050.17 (1997), 1,637.23 (1996), 1,200.43 (1995), 956.71 (1994), 649.06 (1993)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Ghana on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ghana Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ghana Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.