The industry sector recorded the highest growth of 11.5%, compared to 1.8% in 2016, mainly from mining and petroleum. The agriculture sector grew by 7.6%, up from 5% the previous year, driven by good performances in the crops, fisheries, and cocoa sub-sectors. Growth in the services sector slowed to 3.7% from 6.6%, due to slower growth in information, communication, and finance.
Why this matters
The services sector is the biggest contributor to GDP accounting for 57%, followed by Industry with 24% and Agriculture with 19%. The industry sector recorded the highest growth of 11.5%, compared to 1.8% in 2016, mainly from mining and petroleum.
The agriculture sector grew by 7.6%, up from 5% the previous year, driven by good performances in the crops, fisheries, and cocoa sub-sectors. Growth in the services sector slowed to 3.7% from 6.6%, due to slower growth in information, communication, and finance.
Outstanding credit to the private sector grew by 16.2% in May 2017, against 10.1% for the same period in 2016.
Ghana’s near term economic prospects are good as evidenced by the half-year fiscal performance, though global interest rate hikes are likely to impact high domestic and external financing costs. Overall GDP is projected to rebound to 6.1% in 2017 and this is expected to be driven mainly by oil production.
