Ghana’s record US$11.5 billion trade surplus in 2025 marks more than a strong year for exports. It represents a sharp break from a trade pattern that had persisted for most of the previous two decades.
Ghana recorded trade surpluses in only seven of the 21 years between 2004 and 2025, with imports exceeding exports in the other 14 years, according to merchandise trade statistics.
The latest surplus followed a US$0.5 billion surplus in 2023 and US$3.1 billion in 2024, extending the country’s longest sustained run of positive trade in the period.
That is a notable change from earlier episodes. Surpluses recorded in 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2019 were followed by renewed deficits. The country last recorded a deficit in 2022, when imports exceeded exports by US$0.6 billion.
What makes the latest turnaround particularly striking is where the export growth is coming from.
Gold accounted for 63.1% of Ghana’s exports in 2025, up from 38.5% in 2004. Its share has risen rapidly in recent years, from 37.6% in 2022 to 45.4% in 2023 and 55.3% in 2024.
At the same time, mineral fuels and oils fell from 30.4% of exports in 2022 to 8.8% in 2025, while cocoa’s share declined from 29.3% in 2004 to 14%.
The result is that Ghana is selling considerably more abroad, but the composition of those sales has become much more concentrated around gold.
That concentration is occurring alongside continued dependence on imported goods.
Mineral fuels and oils accounted for 25.7% of imports in 2025, followed by vehicles and automotive parts at 15.4% and machinery and electrical equipment at 13.9%.
Food dependence is even more persistent. Ghana was a net food importer in 19 of the 21 years covered by the data, with only 2007 and 2025 recording food exports above food imports.
The trade surplus, therefore, sits alongside a large import requirement for fuel, machinery, vehicles and food.
There has also been a major change in where Ghana trades. Asia’s share of Ghana’s exports increased from 7.9% in 2004 to about 50.1% in 2025, while Europe’s share fell from 51.2% to 26.8%. Asia’s share of imports also rose to 48.4%, overtaking Europe.
Ghana’s total merchandise trade grew from about US$6 billion in 2004 to US$52.5 billion in 2025, but the more significant shift has been in the balance and composition of that trade.
After spending most of the past 21 years in deficit, Ghana now has three consecutive years of surplus, with gold doing much of the work on the export side while imported fuel, machinery, vehicles and food continue to account for a substantial share of what the country buys abroad.
