According to the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) most recent figures, between July and October, Ghana’s trade balance grew by US$310 million.
This indicates that from the US$1.75 billion reported in July 2023, Ghana’s trade balance increased by around 16 percent.
With this increase, the nation’s overall trade balance as of October 2023 was US$2.058 billion, or 2.7% of GDP, according to the Bank of Ghana’s November 2023 Summary of Economic and Financial Data.
This revised trade balance also marks a 10 percentage point rise from the US$1.85 billion reported in October 2022, according to the year-over-year interpretation.
Currently, the country’s total exports stand at US$13.45 billion, up from the US$9.47 billion observed in July 2023.
However, it represents a 6.5 percent drop compared to the US$14.36 billion recorded in October 2022.
Gold remains the most significant contributor to exports. It contributed $6.07 billion in exports as of October 2023, compared to $4.02 billion in July 2023.
Following closely were crude oil exports, which totaled $3.06 billion in October 2023, compared to $2.04 billion in July 2023.
Cocoa came in third with $1.70 billion, up from $1.54 billion recorded in July this year.
Balance of Payment
Ghana’s balance of payment remained negative as of September 30.
The country had a balance-of-payments deficit of $617.0 million, which is about 0.8% of GDP.
The Capital and Financial Account Balance was $1.47 billion in deficit.
In addition, Gross International Reserves were $5.15 billion in October 2023, equivalent to nearly Net International Reserves amounting to US$2.15 billion.
