Ghana’s economy expanded by 6.4% in real terms in the first quarter of 2026, according to provisional figures from the Ghana Statistical Service. The rate is slightly higher than the 6.2% recorded in the same quarter of 2025. Non-oil GDP grew 6.3%.
The national number is clear. Who gained from it is not. The release shows which industries expanded and how much each contributed to the total. It does not show wages, jobs by income group, or household living standards.
Where the growth came from
Services remained the main engine. The sector grew 7.1% and accounted for 48.3% of overall year-on-year growth. Inside services, information and communication rose 25.2% — the fastest sub-sector in the release — while transport and storage grew 13.0% and trade, repair of vehicles and household goods grew 9.0%. Accommodation and food service activities contracted 13.6%, the principal drag within services. Health and social work edged down 1.0%.
Industry accelerated to 6.9% growth, from 4.1% a year earlier. Mining and quarrying rebounded to 10.7%. Oil and gas grew 7.0% after a deep contraction in the first quarter of 2025. Manufacturing and electricity each expanded 6.2%. Water and sewerage contracted 3.7%.
Agriculture grew more slowly, at 4.0%, down from 6.6% a year earlier. Forestry and logging rebounded to 9.0%. Crops, including cocoa, grew 4.7%, with cocoa itself up 3.8%. Fishing contracted 18.5%.
In nominal terms, services made up 45.7% of output, industry 32.9% and agriculture 21.4%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP rose 1.6% from the fourth quarter of 2025.
What the figures do not settle
A sectoral rebound is not the same as broader relief. The GSS figures measure output, not how income from ICT firms, mines or traders reached workers, suppliers or public revenue. Fishing, accommodation and food services, and water and sewerage moved in the opposite direction from the headline, which already shows that the quarter was uneven across activities.
The Service itself described the estimates as provisional and subject to revision. The next scheduled GDP release covers the second quarter of 2026. Until labour-market, income and price data for the same period are read beside these numbers, claims about who gained remain beyond what this release can support.