Ghana’s food export growth in 2025 was largely driven by cocoa products, which accounted for about 70.8 percent of the country’s food export earnings during the year, highlighting cocoa’s continued dominance within the agricultural export sector.
Food exports rose sharply to GH₵79.4 billion in 2025 from GH₵46.1 billion in 2024, while food imports declined from GH₵38.9 billion to GH₵36.5 billion over the same period.
Cocoa products contributed the largest share of the increase, with cocoa beans, cocoa paste, cocoa butter and other cocoa derivatives making up the bulk of Ghana’s food export receipts.
Cocoa beans remained the leading food export product, generating GH₵34.4 billion in 2025. Cocoa paste contributed GH₵9.4 billion, while natural cocoa butter accounted for GH₵4.8 billion. Other cocoa-based products, including cocoa powder and processed cocoa butter, also added to export earnings.
The strong performance of cocoa products helped drive Ghana’s food export growth beyond traditional agricultural shipments, with processed cocoa ingredients contributing a growing share of export value.
Ghana’s cocoa products reached several major international markets in 2025. The Netherlands was the largest destination for cocoa products, accounting for 27.9 percent of exports, followed by the United States with 20.2 percent, Belgium with 7.5 percent, and France with 5.7 percent.
The data also points to the growing importance of value-added agricultural exports. While cocoa beans remained the largest single product, processed products such as cocoa paste, cocoa butter and cocoa powder generated significant export revenues, reflecting demand for cocoa ingredients used in global food manufacturing.
However, the dominance of cocoa also highlights the concentration of Ghana’s food export base. With more than seven out of every ten cedis earned from food exports linked to cocoa products, the performance of the sector remains closely tied to developments in global cocoa markets.
Beyond cocoa, other food products contributed to export earnings, including cashew nuts, edible fruits and nuts, shea products and processed seafood.
The 2025 figures show that Ghana’s food export opportunity is closely connected to its cocoa value chain, but also underline the potential for businesses to expand into other agricultural products and higher-value processing activities.
As global demand for food ingredients continues to grow, the challenge for Ghanaian businesses will be converting strong agricultural production into a wider range of competitive export products.
