Ghana’s informal cross-border trade was worth GH¢31 billion between January and September 2025, representing a significant but previously undercounted part of the economy, according to new data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The figure represents about 6% of Ghana’s total trade during the period and shows that trade conducted outside official customs records plays a much larger role in the economy than previously measured.
More significantly, when measured against Ghana’s three neighbouring countries, Togo, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, informal trade exceeded formal trade, with informal flows valued at GH¢31 billion compared with GH¢20.1 billion in recorded formal trade.
The findings come from Ghana’s Informal Cross-Border Trade (ICBT) survey, which tracked unrecorded goods movement across 206 active border points between Ghana and its neighbouring countries.
The survey, conducted by the GSS with support from relevant government institutions and development partners, aims to capture economic activities that have historically remained outside official trade statistics.
Togo Drives Ghana’s Informal Trade Exposure
The data showed that informal trade remains particularly dominant along Ghana’s borders with Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.
Trade with Togo was largely informal, accounting for 70.5% of total trade in the first quarter of 2025 before rising to 77.8% in the third quarter.
With Côte d’Ivoire, informal transactions consistently represented more than 60% of trade during the period, reaching 67.1% in the third quarter.
Burkina Faso recorded a shift during the year. While formal trade dominated in the first quarter, with informal activity accounting for 57.8%, informal trade became the majority in the second and third quarters.
The figures highlight the scale of economic activity taking place through border communities, where traders frequently move goods through smaller routes and channels outside traditional customs systems.
Food, Agriculture and Everyday Goods Dominate Flows
The survey showed that informal trade is closely linked to food supply chains and everyday consumer markets.
Cooking oil remained the leading informal food import into Ghana, although its share declined slightly from 16.3% in the first quarter to 14.4% in the third quarter.
On exports, agricultural products played an important role, with Burkina Faso emerging as a major destination for Ghana’s farm exports, accounting for an average 63% of informal agricultural exports during the period.
The findings also showed strong movement of beverages across borders, with alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and energy drinks accounting for about 30% of informal food exports.
Tricycles Become Key Transport Link
The survey also highlighted the role of small-scale transport networks in sustaining informal trade.
Tricycles emerged as the dominant transport method, accounting on average for about GH¢2 billion in informal exports and GH¢1.7 billion in imports each quarter.
The findings reflect how border commerce often depends on smaller vehicles and local transport systems rather than large commercial logistics networks.
Four regions, Volta, North East, Northern and Oti, consistently recorded trade deficits, reflecting higher levels of imports compared with exports.
A New Picture of Ghana’s Regional Trade
The GSS said measuring informal trade provides government with better information for economic planning, food security decisions and regional trade policy.
The data also comes as African countries push for deeper integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), where understanding actual trade flows is considered critical to improving intra-African commerce.
For businesses, the findings provide a clearer picture of where goods move, which commodities dominate border markets and where supply chain opportunities exist.
The survey suggests that Ghana’s informal economy is not simply a peripheral activity but a major component of regional commerce that has long operated outside official statistics.
