According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Ghana’s trade surplus for the first half of 2023 was $200 million. Compared to the $400 million deficit seen during the same time last year, this represents a turnaround.
Ghana spent GHC 85 billion on imports between January 2023 and June 2023, as reported in the 2023 Mid-Year Trade Report, as compared to GHC 65.4 billion from January 2022 to June 2022.
Furthermore, the value of exports during the first half of 2023 increased to GHC 87.4 billion from GHC 63.1 billion. This compares favourably to the GHC 2.3 billion deficit for the first half of 2022, translating into a GHC 2.4 billion trade surplus for the first half of 2023 in cedis.
Exports and imports were both higher in 2023 than in 2022 in terms of local currency, but the figures reported in US dollars were lower than in 2022. In the case of imports, the US dollar value dropped significantly from 9.6 billion in 2022 to 7.9 billion with exports also dropping from 9.2 billion to 8.1 billion.
Professor Samuel Kobina, a government statistician, presented the findings at the celebration of the 2023 African Statistics Day. He explained that the decline in dollar valuation was a result of the negative impact of the Ghana Cedi’s depreciation.
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