Services drive Ghana’s Q2 growth as economy expands beyond long-term trend — Ghana Statistical Service

Ghana’s services sector remained the main engine of economic expansion in the second quarter of 2026, contributing 57.6% of total real GDP growth, despite a moderation in the sector’s growth rate compared with the same period last year.

Government Statistician, Dr. Iddrisu Alhassan, disclosed this on Wednesday when he addressed journalists during the Ghana Statistical Service’s release of the 2026 Quarter 2 GDP Estimates, June 2026 Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth (MIEG), and 2026 Quarter 2 Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

According to Dr. Alhassan, the services sector grew by 8% in Q2 2026, compared with 9.5% in Q2 2025, maintaining its position as the largest contributor to overall economic activity.

He said the performance of the economy should, however, be assessed not only against the previous year but also against its longer-term growth trajectory.

Dr. Alhassan said a comparison of second-quarter growth with the respective sectors’ long-run averages showed that four out of five categories—services, industry, overall GDP and non-oil GDP—were growing faster than their historical norms.

Services recorded the strongest performance relative to its historical trend, growing 2.7 percentage points above its long-run average.

Agriculture was the only category among the five to perform below its long-term trend, recording growth 0.8 percentage points below its historical average.

Dr. Alhassan noted that although the economy’s growth rate had slowed compared with a year earlier, the underlying performance remained positive, with most major sectors expanding above their historical pace.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP increased by 1.4% in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 1.6% in the first quarter.

Dr. Alhassan explained that seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal patterns from the data and provides a clearer indication of the economy’s immediate momentum.

He said the marginal easing from the first quarter did not alter the broader picture of continued economic expansion, as the economy maintained quarterly growth above 1%.

Agriculture grew by 3.9% in Q2 2026, although this represented a slowdown from the 7.1% recorded a year earlier.

Within the sector, forestry and logging recorded the strongest growth, expanding by 10.7%, up significantly from 2.7% in the corresponding period of 2025.

The crops subsector grew by 5.2%, compared with 8% a year earlier. Despite the slowdown, crops remained the largest contributor within agriculture, accounting for 13.8% of total GDP growth.

The major weakness within agriculture was fishing, which contracted by 24.7%. Dr. Alhassan said this represented a sharp 25.6-percentage-point swing compared with a year earlier.

Fishing was the only subsector within agriculture to record a contraction and, according to the Government Statistician, its performance reduced overall economic growth by 4.6 percentage points.

He noted that the contraction could have direct implications for coastal and fishing communities whose economic activities depend heavily on the subsector.

The industrial sector accelerated to 4.3% growth in the second quarter, compared with 2.4% in Q2 2025.

Dr. Alhassan attributed much of the improvement to a dramatic turnaround in the oil and gas subsector.

Oil and gas moved from a 29% contraction a year earlier to 22.4% growth in Q2 2026, representing a turnaround of more than 51 percentage points.

The subsector alone contributed 12.8% of total GDP growth, making it one of the major drivers of the industrial sector’s improved performance.

Manufacturing also strengthened during the period, expanding by 6.6%, compared with 5.4% in Q2 2025. The subsector contributed 11.4% of overall GDP growth.

Construction, however, recorded slower growth, expanding by 4.4% compared with 6.5% a year earlier.

With services accounting for the largest share of economic activity and contributing more than half of total growth, Dr. Alhassan’s presentation underscored the sector’s continued importance to Ghana’s economic performance.

The latest figures also point to a more diversified pattern of growth, with improvements in industry—particularly oil and gas and manufacturing—complementing the continued expansion of services.

However, the contrasting performance of agriculture, especially the sharp contraction in fishing, highlights emerging vulnerabilities within some parts of the productive economy.

Dr. Alhassan said the Q2 figures therefore present an economy that, while growing at a slower pace than a year earlier, continues to record positive momentum, with most major sectors expanding above their long-term averages.

The latest GDP estimates form part of the Ghana Statistical Service’s regular release of economic indicators aimed at providing policymakers, businesses, investors and the public with timely information on the direction and structure of economic activity.

Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith