Findings from the Ghana 2022 Trade Vulnerability Report indicate that four countries (Switzerland, China, Canada, and South Africa) accounted for over half of all exports from Ghana.

Six countries (China, UK, Netherlands, USA, India, and Switzerland) are, however, the source of about half of all imports.

From the perspective of commodities traded, the report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said, over two-thirds of all exports come from only two specific products, gold bullion and crude petroleum oil.

Imports, on the other hand, have a lot more different commodities (126) contributing to two-thirds of all imports.

In 2022, Ghana recorded a trade deficit of 4.5 billion, with total imports of 148.6 billion and total exports of 144.1 respectively.

The value of exports exceed imports in only Africa and North America.

The release of the report was chaired by Prof. Charles Godfred Ackah from the University of Ghana Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Ackah highlighted the importance and timeliness of the release of the Trade Vulnerability Report and commended the attempt to aggregate trade statistics and make them readily available statistics.

He noted that the balance of payment constraints make the economy vulnerable.

He stated that “Trade is the most important weapon that we have. If we trade well, we should be able to be prosperous.”

He concluded, saying, the report would give insight into how trade can drive development in Ghana as has been observed in other countries.