Agri Business

Fortunes of Agric sector slumps further

The contribution of the agriculture sector to the total amount of goods and services produced in the country, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), dropped to 19.9 per cent in 2014 from the 21.6 per cent it contributed in 2013, data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has shown.

 

Although the sector recorded the highest annual sectorial growth rate of 5.2 per cent in 2014, the rate was not enough to push the sector up to regain its position as the largest contributor to GDP. That first position is still being maintained by the services sector, which now accounts for 51.7 per cent of GDP.

 

Industry, which recorded a growth rate of 3.9 per cent, accounted for 28.2 per cent of GDP.

 

GDP is the estimate of the total value of final goods and services produced in the country during a given period. In Ghana, the estimates are done by the GSS based on production data.

 

The services and industry sectors recorded annual growth rates of 4.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively. In terms of contribution, the services sector had the highest share of 51.7 per cent of the annual 2014 GDP, followed by industry with 28.4 per cent.

 

From 2010, contribution of the agriculture sector to annual GDP has been dwindling. Its contribution in 2010 was 29.8 per cent; it dipped to 25.3 per cent in 2011 and went down further to 22.9 per cent in 2012.

 

The growth rates recorded in the three sectors culminated into an annual GDP year on year growth rate of 5.1 per cent. This was driven largely by growth in the following sub- sectors; financial and insurance activities grew by 36.0 per cent; information and communication rose by 16.9 per cent, fishing grew by 15.5 per cent, public administration expanded by 15.1, mining and quarrying was up by 14.2 per cent.

 

Quarter on quarter growth rate for the 3rd quarter of 2014 was 0.7 per cent. This means that the value of goods and services produced in the 3rd quarter of 2014 grew by 0.7 compared to the 2nd quarter of 2014. The comparable growth rate for the 2nd quarter was -0.1per cent.

 

In monetary terms, the Oil GDP estimate at current prices for the 3rd quarter of 2014 was GH¢31.47 billion, up from the GH¢25.96 billion for the 2nd quarter of 2014.

 

GDP estimated without oil revenues at current prices for the 3rd quarter of 2014 was GH¢29.68 billion compared to GH¢24.06 billion for the 2nd quarter of 2014.

 

In terms of sectoral contributions to the GDP in the 3rd quarter of 2014, the agriculture sector contributed 24.6 per cent, with industry having a share of 27.6 per cent. The services sector was the highest contributor to 2014 Q3 GDP with 48.0 per cent.

 

In monetary terms, the agric sector contributed GH¢7.39 billion. The industry sector had GH¢ 8.25 billion, while industry had the largest of GH¢14.44 billion.

 

According to the GSS, sectors comprising livestock, (17.9%), finance & insurance activities, (6.4%); fishing, (6.4%) and electricity, (6.4.%) were the growth drivers in the 3rd quarter of 2014.

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