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Ghana Citizenship > News > Agriculture > Ghana Trade Partners: Top 15 Countries, Major Goods, and Share of GDP

Ghana Trade Partners: Top 15 Countries, Major Goods, and Share of GDP


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Ghana remained a highly concentrated trader in 2024. Official data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) shows the country exported to 155 partners and imported from 211, but its trade structure was still dominated by a small set of commodity hubs and industrial suppliers.

In plain terms: Ghana’s foreign exchange earnings still ride almost entirely on gold, crude oil, and cocoa. When those prices move, the whole trade balance moves with them. On the import side, manufacturing inputs and energy supplies come overwhelmingly from China, the UAE, and the UK.

Why this matters for investors, policymakers, and anyone watching Ghana’s economy: the partner map creates both scale and fragility. Ghana can use a few strong corridors to build processing industries, but a refinery shutdown in Switzerland or a policy shift in Beijing can swing a meaningful chunk of the country’s trade earnings. For the diaspora reader, the trade structure also reveals which sectors are structurally under-supplied from local production, and therefore where import-substitution business cases are strongest.

One important caveat before diving in: this report covers merchandise trade only. Services trade, including tourism receipts, financial services, insurance, and remittances, is excluded. For the full balance of payments picture, the Bank of Ghana’s quarterly reports are the appropriate source. On the merchandise side, Ghana trade partners 2024 data is sourced from the GSS 2024 Annual Trade Report (published February 2025), Bank of Ghana data, World Bank GDP figures, and UN Comtrade bilateral pages.

A second caveat applies to cedi-denominated figures. The Ghanaian cedi depreciated by approximately 19.2% against the US dollar in 2024, according to the Bank of Ghana. This means GHS-denominated trade totals grew partly from currency effects, not purely from volume gains. For this reason, the bilateral tables below prioritize directly reported USD totals where available, while Ghana Statistical Service cedi figures are treated as official local-currency trade values. Ghana’s 2024 GDP was approximately $82.31 billion in current US dollars, based on World Bank data. Bilateral trade as a share of GDP is defined here as (exports + imports) / GDP. For a broader look at Ghana’s economic position, see our Ghana economy overview and the Ghana GDP explainer.

 

The Three Layers of Ghana’s Trade

The biggest analytical takeaway from the 2024 data is that Ghana’s partner map splits into three distinct layers, each with a different risk profile and opportunity set.

Layer one: global commodity-routing and refining hubs. The United Arab Emirates and Switzerland dominate precious-metals-related exports. These are not final consumers of gold; they are refining and re-export centers. Ghana sells bullion, and it gets re-routed to India, China, or Europe. Switzerland alone accounted for 60.2% of Ghana’s exports to Europe in 2024.

Layer two: large industrial suppliers. China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States supply machinery, vehicles, plastics, pharmaceuticals, fuels, and food. These are Ghana’s factory and pharmacy partners. China alone was the origin for six out of ten product classifications in Ghana’s import basket in Q4 2024.

Layer three: a rapidly growing African layer. South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Egypt, and Nigeria are becoming real commercial partners, not just political neighbors. In 2024, Ghana recorded a GHS 32.1 billion intra-African trade surplus, meaning it sells more to Africa than it buys from the continent. That surplus is concentrated in manufactured and semi-processed goods, which makes it a different and more promising category than the raw-commodity earnings Ghana records with its global partners.

Worth noting: the West African neighbor figures include a significant informal and transit-trade component. Goods recorded as exports to Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo partly reflect re-export flows and cross-border informal commerce that official statistics capture imperfectly. The directional story is still correct, but precise bilateral totals for these markets carry more measurement uncertainty than the China or Switzerland figures.

 

Top 5 Partners: Exact USD Values

These five partners had directly reported bilateral USD totals in public sources. Figures reflect total bilateral trade (exports plus imports). Because exchange-rate methodology can materially change cedi equivalents, this table keeps the directly reported USD totals and avoids converting them into approximate GHS values. Year-on-year growth rates are shown where the relevant government or embassy source published them.

Rank Country Total Trade (USD) YoY Change Main Exports from Ghana Main Imports to Ghana
1 China $11.84B +7.1% Crude oil, manganese ore, cocoa beans Iron and steel, machinery, electrical equipment, plastics, chemicals, vehicles, textiles
2 United Arab Emirates $6.89B Not published Precious metals/gold, fish, cocoa Precious metals, electronics, vehicles, machinery, fuels, consumer goods
3 Switzerland $4.30B +23.4% Precious metals, cocoa products, fruit Pharmaceuticals, electronics, machinery
4 India $2.99B Not published Gold, fuels, agricultural raw materials, cashew nuts Machinery, medicines, vehicles, plastics, cereals
5 United States $2.18B Not published Mineral fuels, cocoa, knit apparel, root crops Vehicles, plastics, machinery, aviation equipment, protein products

China was the largest import source and the largest single bilateral relationship overall. The UAE and Switzerland were the dominant export destinations, driven by gold. India and the US stayed in the leading import-partner group, with India also a significant gold buyer. The combined top-5 bilateral trade total was approximately $28.2B, equivalent to roughly 34.3% of Ghana’s 2024 GDP.

 

Ghana’s Trade Balance by Partner

Total bilateral trade figures are useful for ranking, but the surplus or deficit position tells you who actually benefits from each relationship. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a direct breakdown for 2024, making China the only top-5 partner where the bilateral split is precisely confirmed. For the others, the direction is clear from the composition of trade flows.

Country Ghana Exports to Partner Ghana Imports from Partner Ghana’s Position Note
China $1.99B (crude oil, manganese ore, cocoa beans) $9.84B (machinery, steel, electrics, textiles) Deficit: approx. $7.85B Source: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2024
United Arab Emirates Large surplus (gold dominates; UAE received 40.7% of Ghana’s gold exports in Q4 2024) Smaller import bill (electronics, vehicles, fuels) Likely Ghana surplus based on commodity composition Exact split not confirmed in the accessible public sources reviewed
Switzerland $4.21B approx. (CHF 3.76B gold imports; source: Swiss Embassy/SECO 2025 report) $0.09B approx. (pharmaceuticals, electronics, machinery) Ghana surplus: approx. $4.12B Source: Swiss Embassy SECO Ghana Economic Report 2025
India Gold, fuels, and agricultural goods dominate; trade balance generally in Ghana’s favor Machinery, medicines, vehicles, cereals Likely Ghana surplus based on commodity composition India High Commissioner confirmed bilateral total of approx. $3B; exact split not published
United States Mineral fuels, cocoa, apparel, root crops Vehicles, machinery, plastics, aviation equipment More balanced than gold-routing partners; exact full bilateral split should be verified against UN Comtrade or official US/Ghana data before treating as final Exact split not published in accessible public sources

The structural story is straightforward. Ghana runs large surpluses with its commodity-routing partners (Switzerland and the UAE) because it sends gold there and receives far less in return by value. It runs a very large deficit with China because it imports an enormous quantity of capital and consumer goods while exporting relatively little. The China deficit alone, at roughly $7.85B, absorbed a significant portion of Ghana’s total export earnings.

That gap has real macroeconomic consequences. It is one of the reasons the IMF-supported Extended Credit Facility that Ghana operated throughout 2024 targeted import compression and current account improvement. The trade surplus reported at the national level (GHS 44.7B for full-year 2024) is partly a result of that policy constraint on imports, not purely a sign of export strength. For context on Ghana’s credit trajectory since the 2022 crisis, see the Ghana credit rating upgrade coverage.

 

Other Major Partners (Africa, Europe, and the Americas)

The official Ghana data identifies a broader set of major partners, but for many of them exact current-year USD totals were not exposed in clean machine-readable text. The table below preserves the article’s working order and the known trade composition, marking bilateral totals as unspecified where estimates would be misleading. If publishing this as a strict top‑15 ranking, verify the order directly against the GSS 2024 Annual Trade Report or a downloadable partner‑country matrix before treating every row as final. Note that Italy, Turkey, and Brazil, which appeared in Ghana’s 2023 partner mix, are not separately identified in the 2024 Annual Trade Report’s top‑15 list. They may have dropped in rank or been absorbed into aggregate regional categories.

Listed Order Country Total Trade (USD) Main Exports from Ghana Main Imports to Ghana
6 South Africa Unspecified Gold, mineral fuels (exports exceeded GHS 35B in 2024; 60.5% of Ghana’s exports to Africa) South Africa is Ghana’s largest African import source by share
7 United Kingdom Unspecified Cocoa, fruits, prepared fish and seafood Mineral fuels and oils (GHS 19.0B in 2024); the UK was Ghana’s largest European import source by value in 2024, largely because of petroleum product procurement
8 Netherlands Unspecified Cocoa beans and products (29.3% of Ghana’s cocoa exports in 2024) The Netherlands remained a key European gateway for cocoa processing and re-export
9 Burkina Faso Unspecified Iron and steel products, plastic preforms, ammonium nitrate, steel coils (GHS 7.36B) Shea oil and related products (GHS 3.60B)
10 Cote d’Ivoire Unspecified Gin, baby napkins, ceramic tiles, energy drinks (GHS 3.88B) Petroleum bitumen, palm oil, mangoes, household soap (GHS 1.53B)
11 Togo Unspecified Coated steel, industrial hoses, sacks and bags, tiles, paints (GHS 3.38B) Diesel, shea nuts, shea oil (GHS 1.81B)
12 Egypt Unspecified Not exposed in public text 15.3% of Ghana’s imports from Africa; second-largest African import origin by share in 2024
13 Nigeria Unspecified Not exposed in public text GHS 4.7B in 2024; 15.1% of Ghana’s imports from Africa
14 Canada Unspecified Mineral fuels (15.9% of Ghana’s mineral fuels exports; 58.6% of exports to North America) Not exposed
15 Belgium Unspecified Not exposed Part of the UK-Switzerland-Belgium trio that made up 50.1% of Ghana’s imports from Europe

 

Trade as Share of Ghana’s GDP (2024)

For the five partners with directly reported USD totals, bilateral trade as a percentage of Ghana’s 2024 GDP ($82.31B) breaks down as follows. For a full explanation of how Ghana’s GDP is calculated and what it includes, see the Ghana GDP explained guide.

China ($11.84B)14.4%
United Arab Emirates ($6.89B)8.4%
Switzerland ($4.30B)5.2%
India ($2.99B)3.6%
United States ($2.18B)2.6%

Chart shows bilateral trade (exports + imports) as a share of Ghana’s 2024 GDP of $82.31B. China bar is set to 100% for proportional comparison. Source: GSS 2024 Annual Trade Report; World Bank GDP data.

A single country, China, accounts for nearly one-seventh of Ghana’s entire economic output in trade terms. The top five combined represent approximately 34.3% of GDP. That level of concentration is an efficiency advantage for importers sourcing capital goods, but it also means external shocks, whether a gold price drop in Switzerland or a supply-chain disruption in China, translate quickly into domestic economic pressure.

 

Country-by-Country Analysis: What Each Relationship Means

 

China: The Import Anchor (and Growing Deficit Partner)

China is the clearest case of Ghana’s dependence on imported capital and intermediate goods. It remained the largest import source and dominated six product groups: iron and steel, machinery and electrical equipment, plastics, chemical products, vehicles and parts, and textiles. Ghana’s exports to China are concentrated in crude oil, manganese ore, and cocoa beans. In September 2024, Ghana and China formally elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership, a diplomatic development that signals a longer-term commitment on both sides. For more on how Chinese firms operate inside Ghana, see the Chinese entrepreneurs in Ghana guide and the China-Africa trade overview.

The opportunity is industrial equipment access at scale. The risk is a bilateral deficit that ran at approximately $7.85B in 2024, meaning Ghana sends far more hard currency to China than it receives. Businesses exporting to China face a concentrated product profile; the Ghana-China export guide covers the practical steps.

 

United Arab Emirates: The Gold Routing Hub (with a Smuggling Dimension)

The UAE functions as both a gold-routing hub and a re-export platform. Ghana’s side is overwhelmingly precious metals; the UAE’s side is electronics, vehicles, machinery, fuels, and consumer goods. The UAE received 40.7% of Ghana’s gold exports in Q4 2024, the single largest gold-destination share of any country.

There is a complication that the headline bilateral figures do not capture. The Swiss Embassy’s 2025 economic report on Ghana explicitly flagged concerns about artisanal gold smuggling to the UAE. Small-scale gold production rose 70% in 2024, reaching 1.9 million ounces, and a portion of that output is believed to move outside official export channels. This means official UAE trade figures may not capture all Ghana-origin gold flows because some gold moves through informal or undeclared channels. The policy risk is real: if tighter controls reduce informal gold flows, Ghana’s official export earnings to the UAE could shift, while the underground volume doesn’t disappear, it just becomes harder to measure. The galamsey explainer covers the illegal small-scale mining dimension in full. Ghana also has a newer cooperation angle with the UAE on technology and innovation; see the Ghana-UAE AI innovation hub article. For the latest on Ghana’s gold sector, including the record 2025 output figures, see Ghana gold output 2025.

The opportunity is market liquidity for bullion. The risk is that Ghana’s export relationship remains too concentrated in unprocessed gold, and that smuggling undermines the official data that policymakers rely on.

 

Switzerland: Premium Commodity Access

Switzerland is another gold-heavy relationship, with cocoa adding a secondary channel. Ghana exports precious metals (CHF 3.76B in 2024, confirmed by the Swiss Embassy’s SECO economic report); imports are pharmaceuticals, electronics, and machinery. Switzerland’s total trade with Ghana grew 23.4% year-on-year in 2024, the strongest growth rate among the top five. That growth was driven almost entirely by rising gold prices rather than volume gains, which is important context: the relationship looks stronger on paper than it is structurally.

The opportunity is premium-market access for high-quality cocoa products and processed gold. The risk is the same structural one across all commodity partners: high earnings from low-transformation exports that leave value on the table.

 

India: The Most Balanced Large Partner (and Fastest-Growing)

India is one of Ghana’s most balanced large partners. Ghana exports gold, fuels, agricultural raw materials, and cashew nuts, while importing machinery, medicines, vehicles, plastics, and cereals. The bilateral total of approximately $3B in 2024 is confirmed by the Indian High Commissioner, who also noted that trade had already exceeded $3B in the first half of 2025 alone. In July 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Accra and signed four bilateral MOUs covering traditional medicine, standardization, culture, and institutional cooperation.

The opportunity is to move from raw-goods trade toward processing partnerships, particularly in pharmaceuticals (India is the largest source of generic medicines reaching Ghana) and agro-processing. The risk is persistent dependence on imported pharmaceuticals and machines that could be produced locally.

 

United States: Diversified and Policy-Sensitive

The US relationship is more diversified than the bullion-centered Switzerland and UAE channels. Ghana sells mineral fuels, cocoa, knit apparel, and root crops, while importing vehicles, plastics, machinery, aviation equipment, and protein products. One structural advantage that rarely appears in trade data discussions is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible Ghanaian goods, including the knit apparel line in Ghana’s US export basket, duty-free access to American markets. AGOA faced a major renewal fight in 2025, expired on September 30, 2025, and was later reauthorized through December 31, 2026 with retroactive effect. That gives Ghana’s apparel exporters temporary breathing room, but the sector still faces policy uncertainty beyond 2026. For context on the garment industry, see the Ghana garment industry guide. There is also a bilateral tax framework worth noting for US citizens doing business here; the Ghana-US double taxation treaty guide covers that in detail.

The opportunity is to expand higher-value exports, particularly processed cocoa and AGOA-eligible manufactures. The risk is sensitivity to energy-price cycles and shifts in US trade policy.

 

South Africa: Ghana’s Anchor African Market

South Africa absorbed 60.5% of Ghana’s exports to Africa in 2024, exceeding GHS 35 billion as a single-country destination. Gold and mineral fuels dominate. The AfCFTA framework creates the right conditions for deeper value-chain integration, but the practical infrastructure is not yet there. The opportunity is AfCFTA-scale value chains linking Ghana’s natural resources with South Africa’s more developed processing and financial sectors. The risk is overreliance on a single African hub rather than a broader customer base. For readers tracking Ghana-South Africa relations in a different context, see the Ghana-South Africa xenophobia coverage.

 

United Kingdom: Energy-Heavy Re-emergence

The UK re-emerged as a very large import source in 2024, largely because of mineral fuels and oils, which totaled GHS 19.0B on the import side. On the export side, the basket is centered on cocoa, fruits, and prepared fish. What is missing from most discussions of this relationship is the legal framework governing it. Since Brexit, Ghana and the UK have operated under the Ghana-UK Trade Partnership Agreement (GUTPA), which replaced the EU-Ghana Economic Partnership Agreement. The GUTPA preserved most of the preferential terms from the EPA but is a bilateral instrument, which means it is subject to UK trade policy decisions independently of Brussels. For diaspora readers based in the UK, see the Ghana to UK moving guide.

The opportunity is to sell more processed food products. The risk is that the import side remains energy-heavy, tying Ghana’s import bill to global petroleum prices and UK procurement decisions.

 

Netherlands: The Cocoa Gateway

The Netherlands took 29.3% of Ghana’s cocoa beans and products exports in 2024. Amsterdam and Rotterdam serve as the primary European entry points for West African cocoa before it moves to German, Belgian, and Swiss processing facilities. The opportunity is to use the Dutch corridor for deeper chocolate, butter, and semi-finished processing, selling paste and butter rather than raw beans. The risk is excessive dependence on one European node for a single commodity complex. For the full picture on Ghana’s cocoa sector, see the Ghana cocoa farming and industry guide and the Ghana-Netherlands trade and investment relations article.

 

Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo: Industrial Neighbors

Ghana’s exports to Burkina Faso are led by iron and steel, plastic preforms, and fertilizers, a more industrial profile than its global trade. Cote d’Ivoire shows genuine two-way exchange: gin, tiles, and energy drinks going north; bitumen, palm oil, and mangoes coming south. Togo is a strategic corridor partner for steel, hoses, and packaging. The opportunity is regional manufacturing specialization that Ghana is already starting to capture.

The caution is threefold. Border insecurity in the Sahel has disrupted certain supply routes to Burkina Faso. Informal and transit trade inflates bilateral totals in ways that official data cannot fully separate. And Cote d’Ivoire is simultaneously Ghana’s cocoa competitor in global markets, meaning the trade relationship coexists with a competitive one. For more on the Burkina Faso corridor specifically, see Ghana-Burkina Faso trade corridor agreements.

 

Egypt and Nigeria: Growing African Suppliers

Egypt was the second-largest African import origin by share in 2024 (15.3%). Nigeria accounted for 15.1% of Ghana’s imports from Africa, with GHS 4.7B in 2024. The opportunity is diversification inside Africa beyond a single hub. The risk is policy unpredictability in both countries and shipping-route stresses in the Gulf of Guinea. Note: by Q4 2025, Nigeria’s share of Ghana’s African imports had surged to 33.6%, making it the primary African import origin for that quarter. That shift is covered in the 2025 update section below.

 

See a sector you could build on? Ghana’s trade strengths in gold, cocoa, shea, steel, and plastics are starting points for real businesses. The e-book 543 Business Ideas to Start in Ghana maps opportunities across each of these value chains.

 

2025 Developments: What Has Changed

The GSS 2025 Annual Trade Report had not been published as of the date of this article. The full-year 2024 Annual Trade Report (published February 2025) remains the most comprehensive full-year source. However, the GSS released Q3 and Q4 2025 quarterly trade newsletters in April 2026, and those figures contain material changes that readers should be aware of.

 

Gold Concentration Has Deepened Further

Gold accounted for 55.3% of Ghana’s total exports in full-year 2024. By the second half of 2025, that share exceeded 70%. In Q4 2025 alone, gold bullion was valued at GHS 72.7B, more than seven times the value of cocoa beans (GHS 9.6B), which came second. The top five export products accounted for 86% of total exports in Q4 2025. That is not diversification; it is the opposite. The Ghana mining local content rules article covers the regulatory dimension of this sector, and the Ghana gold royalty hike piece covers the fiscal implications. For the production side, see Ghana gold output 2025.

 

South Africa’s African Export Share Rose Further

South Africa’s share of Ghana’s exports to Africa rose from 60.5% in full-year 2024 to 63.8% in Q4 2025. The concentration at the top of Ghana’s African export market has increased, not decreased, over the year.

 

Nigeria Became the Primary African Import Source

For full-year 2024, Nigeria accounted for 15.1% of Ghana’s imports from Africa, behind Egypt at 15.3%. By Q4 2025, Nigeria’s share had surged to 33.6%, making it the primary African import origin for that quarter by a wide margin. This is a significant structural shift that will likely alter Ghana’s African import rankings in the 2025 full-year data. The product composition driving that surge was not exposed in accessible Q4 2025 newsletter text, but petroleum products are the most probable driver given Nigeria’s export profile.

 

Ghana’s Overall Trade Position Strengthened in 2025

Ghana’s Q4 2025 trade surplus reached GHS 47.2B ($4.2B), a sharp increase from the GHS 16.7B surplus in Q3 2025 and up 29.7 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. Total Q4 2025 trade was valued at $15.1B (exports $9.7B, imports $5.5B). Export unit value prices surged 23.2% quarterly, driven by a 31.6% increase in gold prices. Ghana’s gross international reserves stood at $13.8B at end-December 2025, equivalent to over 5.7 months of import cover, a marked improvement from the post-2022 crisis lows. The broader macro picture is covered in the Ghana economy 2026 overview.

 

India Trade Exceeded $3B in H1 2025 Alone

The Indian High Commissioner confirmed in December 2025 that Ghana-India trade had already exceeded the $3B annual mark by the first half of 2025. PM Modi’s July 2025 visit to Accra, which included an address to Parliament and the signing of four bilateral MOUs, reinforced the trajectory. India is positioning itself as an alternative to China for certain categories of capital goods, pharmaceuticals, and industrial inputs.

 

What This Means for Investors and Diaspora

The trade data is not just a macroeconomic scoreboard. For anyone with capital to deploy, a business to start, or goods to export, the partner map identifies where structural gaps and opportunities concentrate.

 

Import Substitution: The China Gap

Ghana imports approximately $9.84B from China annually, concentrated in iron and steel, machinery, plastics, chemicals, vehicles, and textiles. That is a large hard-currency import bill for products that could, in several categories, be produced, processed, or assembled locally over time. The plastics and steel categories are among the most actionable areas for SME investors. See the industries in Ghana that make money guide and the Ghana growth sectors 2026 article for the current landscape.

 

Export Processing: The Gold and Cocoa Upgrade

Ghana sends raw or minimally processed gold to the UAE and Switzerland, and raw cocoa beans to the Netherlands. The value added in those destination countries is substantial. A gold refinery or a cocoa-processing facility positioned inside Ghana captures that value locally. The government’s stated policy agenda aligns with this; the Ghana agriculture investment guide and the Ghana foreign investment guide cover the entry frameworks, minimum capital requirements, and sector-specific incentives.

 

Regional Trade: The West African Industrial Play

Ghana’s exports to Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo are already more industrial than its global trade profile. Steel, plastics, and packaging going to landlocked neighbors represent a regional manufacturing opportunity that is growing without much fanfare. The AfCFTA framework provides the policy scaffold; the ECOWAS guide explains the free-movement and trade dimensions that affect logistics and staffing.

 

For the Diaspora Specifically

Diaspora remittances flow into Ghana outside the merchandise trade statistics, but they are linked: a stronger trade position and a stronger cedi reduce the real cost of transfers and increase purchasing power at the receiving end. For current channel comparisons, the Ghana remittances 2025 guide covers the latest rates, apps, and policy context. For those considering business registration, the starting a business in Ghana step-by-step guide is the practical starting point.

 

Policy Implications: What the Trade Structure Demands

Ghana’s policy challenge is not simply “export more.” It is to export more processed goods to a broader set of markets. The current export structure still rests overwhelmingly on gold, mineral fuels, and cocoa products, while imports are dominated by fuels, machinery, vehicles, chemicals, steel, and electrical equipment. The IMF-supported program active throughout 2024 addressed the symptoms (import compression, current account improvement) but not the structure. Processing investment is the only route to lasting improvement.

Deepen domestic processing. Ghana should invest in gold refining, cocoa grinding, shea processing, steel rolling, and plastics manufacturing so that relationships with the UAE, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US become less about raw material dispatch and more about semi-processed exports. The Damang mine local ownership story is one data point on how the minerals sector is beginning to shift.

Use AfCFTA and ECOWAS to scale regional industrial exports. The official data already show that African trade is more favorable to Ghana’s balance than most extra-African channels. South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Nigeria, and Egypt are the natural first stops. The 24-Hour Economy authority, which received a legal mandate in 2025, is one institutional vehicle for this agenda.

Diversify strategic import origins. Ghana should reduce vulnerability by spreading fuel, machinery, chemical, and vehicle imports across more suppliers. China is clearly Ghana’s dominant import partner among the major bilateral relationships reviewed, but the exact top‑five import‑share calculation should be treated cautiously unless all partner‑level import splits are verified from the same dataset.

Address the gold smuggling channel. Official bilateral trade figures with the UAE may not capture all Ghana-origin gold flows because some gold moves through informal or undeclared channels. Closing that gap is both a fiscal issue (lost royalties and taxes) and a data-quality issue. The galamsey article covers the enforcement dimension.

A statistical reform is also overdue. Ghana’s official trade reporting has become far richer, but the public presentation still leaves too many partner-country totals embedded in charts rather than exposed as machine-readable tables. Publishing a full downloadable country-by-country annual matrix in both cedis and US dollars would materially improve transparency and allow the kind of bilateral analysis this article attempts to construct from partial public sources.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Who is Ghana’s biggest trade partner in 2024?

China is Ghana’s largest single trade partner by total bilateral value, at $11.84B in 2024 (a 7.1% increase from 2023). China is the dominant import source; the UAE and Switzerland are the leading export destinations because Ghana sends most of its gold through those markets.

 

Does Ghana have a trade surplus or deficit?

Ghana recorded a national trade surplus of GHS 44.7B (approximately $3.7B) for full-year 2024, meaning total exports exceeded total imports. However, at the bilateral level the picture is uneven. Ghana runs a large deficit with China (approximately $7.85B) and large surpluses with Switzerland and the UAE, where gold exports dominate.

 

What does Ghana export to China?

Ghana’s three primary exports to China are crude oil, manganese ore, and cocoa beans. China is the dominant source of Ghana’s imports (machinery, steel, electronics, plastics, chemicals, vehicles, and textiles) but a secondary-tier destination for Ghana’s exports.

 

What does Ghana import from the UK?

The UK’s largest category of exports to Ghana in 2024 was mineral fuels and oils, totaling GHS 19.0B. The UK-Ghana trade relationship is governed by the Ghana-UK Trade Partnership Agreement (GUTPA), which replaced the EU-Ghana Economic Partnership Agreement after Brexit and preserves most of the preferential tariff terms.

 

How much does Ghana trade with the United States?

Ghana-US bilateral trade totaled approximately $2.18B in 2024. Ghana exports mineral fuels, cocoa, knit apparel, and root crops to the US; it imports vehicles, plastics, machinery, aviation equipment, and protein products. Ghana’s apparel exports benefit from preferential duty-free access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

 

Is Ghana’s trade growing or shrinking?

Overall, Ghana’s trade position improved in 2024 and continued to strengthen through 2025. Total exports reached GHS 294.9B in 2024, a substantial increase from the prior year, and the trade surplus expanded to GHS 44.7B. By Q4 2025, Ghana’s quarterly trade surplus had reached $4.2B, with gold prices driving a 23.2% quarterly surge in export unit values. Real trade volumes (adjusted for price effects) tell a more cautious story, but the nominal and reserves position is stronger than at any point since the 2022 debt crisis.

 

What are Ghana’s top export products?

In 2024, gold was Ghana’s top export at 55.3% of total export revenue (GHS 294.9B total). Petroleum and oils followed at 17.8%, and cocoa and cocoa products at 8.4%. By H2 2025, gold’s share had risen above 70%. This concentration means Ghana’s export earnings are highly sensitive to commodity price cycles, particularly the gold price.

 

 

Sources