Ghana’s imports have dropped marginally between 2016 and 2017, figures from the Bank of Ghana have shown.
The country’s imports declined from 12.9 billion dollars in 2016 to 12.7 billion dollars in 2017.
This translates into a drop of 1.7 percent within the one year period.
Total exports also reached 13.7 billion dollars from 11 billion dollars in 2016.
As a result, Ghana’s trade figures for 2017 show that the country recorded a trade surplus of 1 billion dollars.
This also translates into 2.3 percent of the country’s GDP for 2017.
The Bank of Ghana’s recent economic data also shows that the country’s increased exports were largely driven by the oil sector.
For 2017, the country’s total export of gold, cocoa and oil amounted to 13.7 billion dollars.
This represents an increase over the 2016 figure of 11.1 billion dollars.
Of the amount recorded in 2017, gold contributed the highest of 5.7 billion dollars representing 16 percent rise over the 2016 figure of 4.9 billion dollars.
It was followed by oil which contributed 3 billion dollars; up from the 1.3 billion dollars recorded in 2016.
This means that for last year, the oil sector’s exports more than doubled (130%) rise compared to the figure recorded in the preceding year (2016).
Cocoa on the other hand contributed the lowest to Ghana’s exports for 2017; accounting for some 2.7 billion dollars.
This is however 8 percent up from the 2016 figure of 2.5 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, comparing the amount of money realized from the respective commodities, oil yielded the highest gains for the year under review.
Between December 2016 and the same period last year, a barrel of oil went up by 20 percent; from 53 dollars to 63 dollars.
Also, an ounce of fine gold went up for the period; from 1,170 dollars to 1,265 dollars.
However, the price of cocoa declined in price by 20 percent for the same period.
A tonne of cocoa ended last year at 2,400 dollars compared to the 3,145 dollars recorded at the beginning of the year.
The country’s imports however show that oil imports went up to 2 billion dollars in 2017 from the 1.8 billion dollars in 2016.
While non oil imports dropped to 10.6 billion dollars in 2017; from 11 billion dollars in 2016.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana