Ghana’s economy expanded by 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026, increasing from the 6.2% recorded in the same period a year in 2025, driven largely by mining and quarrying and information and communication technology.
Announcing the 2026 provisional first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates, in Accra on Wednesday, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) noted that the acceleration came alongside a sharp easing of price pressures.
Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, during a press briefing, explained that the GDP deflator, which was a measure of inflation for everything the economy produced, declined from 23.9% in the first quarter of 2025 to 4.1% in 2026, signalling that growth was increasingly real rather than inflation-driven.
Overall, nominal GDP reached GH₵420.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up from GH₵378 billion in the same period of 2025, while real GDP stood at GH₵57.4 billion compared with GH₵53.9 billion a year earlier.
The country’s non-oil real GDP grew at 6.3%, reflecting broad-based expansion beyond the petroleum sector, the Government Statistician noted.
“On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP rose 1.6% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025, confirming that the economy’s growth momentum is sustained and not merely a base effect,” he said.
The services sector remained the largest contributor to the economy, accounting for 45.7% of GDP at basic prices and recording growth of 7.1%, accounting for 48.3% of total year-on-year GDP growth.
Information and Communication Technology was the single most significant sub-sector, surging 25.2% year-on-year, its highest reading in several quarters, and contributing 26.9% to overall GDP growth.
Transport and Storage also delivered a strong performance, expanding 13% and contributing 12.1% to GDP growth, while Trade and Repair of Vehicles grew 9%, contributing 14.8% to overall growth.
“Together, these three sub-sectors demonstrated that Ghana’s services economy is growing broadly across multiple fronts,” Dr Iddrisu said, adding that the drag within services came from Accommodation and Food Service Activities, which contracted by 13.6% year-on-year.
The industry sector increased to 6.9% growth in the first quarter of 2026, up from just 4.1% in the same quarter of 2025, powered by a sharp rebound in mining and quarrying, which grew 10.7% after three consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Gold maintained strong double-digit year-on-year growth of 15.7%, continuing its role as the backbone of Ghana’s industrial output, while Oil and Gas returned to positive territory, recording growth of 7% after contracting by 29% in the second quarter of 2025.
Manufacturing grew 6.2%, while Electricity also expanded 6.2% with Water and Sewerage sub-sector declining by 3.7% for the second consecutive quarter, pointing to persistent structural challenges in that utility segment.
Agriculture grew 4%, moderation from 6.6% in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for 13.5% of overall GDP growth, marked by a rebound in Forestry and Logging, surging 9% after contracting 2.5% in the previous first quarter.
The Crops sub-sector grew 4.7% and Cocoa expanded 3.8%, continuing its recovery from the severe contractions of 2023 and 2024, while Fishing, contracted by 18.5% year-on-year, its sharpest decline in the data series.
“The contraction raises urgent concerns about the state of Ghana’s fishing industry and warrants targeted policy intervention,” the Government Statistician noted, calling for attention in the sector.
From the expenditure side, he explained that growth was dominated by a 36.1% surge in investment, up from 6.2% in the first quarter of 2025, indicating a pickup in capital spending and business confidence.
While household consumption grew by a 7.5%, government consumption expanded 7.9%.
Monthly economic data from the Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth reinforced the quarterly picture, with the MIEG recording growth of 6.1% in January 2026, accelerating to 7.7% in February before moderating to 5.4% in March, producing an overall March MIEG index reading of 121.6, up from 115.4 in March 2025.
Dr Iddrisu recommended that Government sustained macroeconomic stability policies and private-sector growth measures while urgently addressing weaknesses in fishing, accommodation and food services, and water supply.
He also called for increased investment in infrastructure and digital transformation, noting that ICT’s sustained double-digit expansion pointed to the digital economy as a powerful long-term engine for Ghana’s growth.
