Does Ghana have a trade deficit?

Countries & Regions

Africa

Ghana

AGOA Status: Ghana is eligible for AGOA this year. It also qualifies for textile and apparel benefits.

Trade Agreements: The U.S. and Ghana signed a Trade & Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 1999. The fifth U.S.-Ghanaian TIFA Council Meeting was held in January 2008. Later that year, the United States and Mauritius launched bilateral investment treaty negotiations. That year, the U.S. and Ghana also opened exploratory discussions on the possibility of negotiating a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

U.S.-Ghana Trade Facts

In 2019, Ghana GDP was an estimated $67.1 billion (current market exchange rates); real GDP was up by an estimated 6.1%; and the population was 30 million. (Source: IMF)

Ghana is currently our 83rd largest goods trading partner with $1.8 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2019. Goods exports totaled $840 million; goods imports totaled $943 million. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Ghana was $103 million in 2019.

Exports

Ghana was the United States' 83rd largest goods export market in 2019.

U.S. goods exports to Ghana in 2019 were $840 million, up 9.3% ($71 million) from 2018 and up 17.3% from 2009.

The top export categories (2-digit HS) in 2019 were: vehicles ($170 million), machinery ($141 million), mineral fuels ($79 million), plastics ($75 million), and meat (poultry) ($58 million).

U.S. total exports of agricultural products to Ghana totaled $92 million in 2019. Leading domestic export categories include: poultry meat & products (ex. eggs) ($57 million), wheat ($10 million), dairy products ($5 million), prepared food ($5 million), and rice ($2 million).

Imports

Ghana was the United States' 80th largest supplier of goods imports in 2019.

U.S. goods imports from Ghana totaled $943 million in 2019, up 62.2% ($361 million) from 2018, and up 598.3% from 2009.

The top import categories (2-digit HS) in 2019 were: mineral fuels ($614 million), cocoa ($225 million), rubber ($21 million), knit apparel ($17 million), and vegetables (cassava) ($14 million).

U.S. total imports of agricultural products from Ghana totaled $273 million in 2019. Leading categories include: cocoa beans ($175 million), cocoa paste & cocoa butter ($50 million), rubber & allied products ($21 million), fresh vegetables ($13 million), and other vegetable oils ($4 million).

Trade Balance

The U.S. trade balance with Ghana shifted from a goods trade surplus of $187 million in 2018 to a goods trade deficit of $103 million in 2019.

Investment

U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ghana (stock) was $1.6 billion in 2019, a 2.9% decrease from 2018. There is no information on the distribution of U.S. FDI in Ghana.

No data on Ghana's FDI in the U.S. are available.

NOTE: No services trade data with Ghana are available.

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

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Country ISO3 : GHA Country Code : 288 Income Group : Lower middle income Lending Category : IDA Region : Sub-Saharan Africa Currency Unit : New Ghanaian cedi WTO Member : Yes

Ghana had a total export of 16,768,275.19 in thousands of US$ and total imports of 10,439,795.45 in thousands of US$ leading to a positive trade balance of 6,328,479.74 in thousands of US$ The Effectively Applied Tariff Weighted Average (customs duty) for Ghana is 10.02% and the Most Favored Nation (MFN) Weighted Average tariff is 10.53%.The trade growth is -1.94% compared to a world growth of -1.78%. GDP of Ghana is 72,354,428,864.90 in current US$. Ghana services export is in BoP, current US$ and services import is in Bop, current US$.Ghana exports of goods and services as percentage of GDP is % and imports of goods and services as percentage of GDP is %.

In December, the last month for which data are available, exports fell 23.2% over the same month of the previous year, which was notably below the 19.0% drop tallied in November. December’s print marked the largest decline since January 2010. Imports fell 8.1% annually in December, which was an improvement compared to November’s 15.1% fall.

As a result of the sharp drop in exports, the trade deficit worsened, totaling USD 320 million in December (November: USD 260 million) and was well below the USD 140 billion deficit recorded in the same month of the previous year. The 12-month moving sum of the trade deficit widened from USD 1.3 billion in November to USD 1.5 billion in December.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists project that merchandise exports will decline 5.2% in 2015, while imports will fall 2.3%. For 2016, the panel expects exports to increase 9.9% and imports to rise 9.9% also.