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Ghana’s economy contracted 3.2% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
This compares favorably with countries such as Nigeria and South Africa, whose economies contracted by 6.1 and 17.1 percent, respectively, in the second quarter.
On the world front, the United Kingdom (UK) economy contracted 21.7 percent; that of Germany by 11.7 per cent, France by 19 per cent and the United States of America (USA) by 9.1 per cent.
Ghana’s non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which measures productivity within the economy, also declined by 3.4 percent in the same period.
The slowdown puts the economy at risk of registering its sharpest annual contraction in 37 years.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic after the release of the second quarter GDP, Government Statistician Professor Samuel Kobina Annim attributed the economic downturn in large part to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that led to economic activities around the world at a stop.
He said that given the 4.9 percent growth rate in the first quarter and the 3.2 percent contraction in the second quarter, the 37-year annual expansion in GDP should be cautious.
Professor Annim said that one of the main drivers of the contraction was the manufacturing subsector, which contracted by 14.3%, as it had the second highest share of 11.3% in the 22 subsectors, including cocoa and cocoa. Petroleum. and gas.
Other sectors that registered contractions were the subsector of hotels and restaurants by 74.9 percent, which represents 0.8 percent of GDP; the mining and quarrying subsector, which contracted 5.6 percent or 20.3 percent of GDP; commerce, vehicle repair and household goods subsectors, which contracted 20.2 percent, representing 8.6 percent of GDP.
The subsectors, which recorded growth in the period under review, were the information and communications subsector, which grew by 74.2 percent; health and social work subsector, which grew 21.3 percent; education, which grew by 17.9%, and public administration, defense and social security, which grew by 12.4%.
Sector growth
The agricultural sector recorded the highest growth of 2.5 percent, and the industrial and service sectors contracted by 5.7 and 2.6 percent, respectively.
The services sector was the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy in the second quarter of 2020 with a share of 48 percent of GDP, followed by industry and agriculture, which accounted for 33 and 19 percent of GDP. , respectively.
Sub-sector growth
In the agricultural sector, the livestock subsector grew 5.7 percent both in the second quarter of 2019 and this year; The forestry and logging subsector contracted 8.4% in the second quarter of 2020 and 6.5% in the same period of 2019, while the crop subsector expanded 3% in the second quarter of 2020 and 4% percent in the same period in 2019.
Room to room
On a quarterly basis, Professor Annim said, the economy contracted by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the first quarter of 2020.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
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