Ghana's Economy Reaches GH¢1.4 Trillion but Job Creation Lags, Nearly 2 Million Youth Neither Working nor Studying

Ghana's economy grew by 6% in 2025, with nominal GDP reaching GH¢1.4 trillion, but this growth has not translated into enough decent jobs, according to the maiden "Ghana in Numbers" report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in Accra on Thursday . The report presents a stark picture: while macroeconomic indicators have improved significantly, business formation is outpacing employment growth at an alarming rate, and nearly two million young people are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

Macroeconomic Stabilization: Inflation Drops from 23.8% to 5.4%

The report highlights notable macroeconomic gains in 2025. Inflation fell sharply from 23.8% in December 2024 to 5.4% in December 2025, marking the 12th consecutive month of decline . Gross international reserves reached US$13.8 billion, equivalent to 5.7 months of import cover . The services sector accounted for 45.9% of GDP growth, followed by industry at 31.3% and agriculture at 22.8% .

The Jobless Growth Paradox: Businesses Triple, Employment Only Doubles

Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu revealed a widening disconnect between business formation and job creation. The GSS identified 2.64 million business establishments in 2024, nearly triple the number recorded in 2014, yet the number of people employed by them only doubled over the same period . Nine out of every ten establishments employed between one and five people, and only 4,874 establishments had 100 or more workers. Critically, just 7.7% of businesses were formally registered, meaning roughly 92% operate informally .

Labour force participation rose from 67.1% in 2022 to 74.5% in 2025, but unemployment averaged 12.8% during the first three quarters of 2025 . "We have close to two million young people who were not working, studying or training. And in fact, if we take the NEET group, women made up more than 60%," Dr. Iddrisu said . Separate data indicates that almost one in three jobseekers aged 15 to 24 cannot find work .

World Bank Warns Recovery Must Translate into Quality Jobs

The World Bank's Tenth Ghana Economic Update, released in August 2026, similarly cautioned that while Ghana's recovery deepened in 2025 with real GDP growth reaching 6.0%, "growth has not yet generated enough quality jobs to absorb Ghana's expanding working-age population" . The Bank noted that poverty remains elevated, with 56.2% of Ghanaians projected to live below the lower-middle-income poverty line of US$4.20 per day in 2026, essentially unchanged from 56.3% in 2025 . Informality remains widespread, with 80% of Ghanaian workers informally employed yet generating only about a quarter of GDP .

World Bank Division Director for Ghana Robert Taliercio said: "Ghana has made important progress in restoring stability after a difficult period, but the next phase must be about making the recovery durable and more inclusive" .

Government Response: GH¢10 Billion "New Economy" Agenda

Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem acknowledged that the urgency of addressing unemployment had become greater than ever, stating that "the stability achieved formed the foundation, with productivity as the engine and jobs and prosperity as the destination" . He announced that Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson will present the 2027 Budget to Parliament on November 12, which will advance the government's New Economy agenda—a GH¢10 billion (US$10 billion) transformational programme targeting nine productive sectors with significant job-creation potential .

President John Dramani Mahama has described the programme as moving Ghana "beyond economic stabilisation towards job creation, wealth generation and sustainable growth" .

Economists Call for Employment Targets and Structural Shift

At the report launch, Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin of the University of Ghana Business School urged the government to set deliberate employment targets in the budget and direct investment into agriculture, agribusiness, agro-processing, and rural-urban road infrastructure—sectors he described as Ghana's "best bet for decent jobs creation" . He cautioned against overemphasizing SMEs without a strategy to transition businesses from micro to small, small to medium, and medium to large. "Countries that have developed didn't develop solely on the back of SMEs. It will be a trap," he warned .

Dr. Iddrisu recommended policies to formalize the 92% of businesses operating informally, increase access to affordable private-sector credit—which currently stands at just 7.4% of GDP—and adopt region-specific employment policies . He also noted that food insecurity rose from 37.7% in 2024 to 39.8% in 2025, affecting an estimated 13 million people .

Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama described the report as "a national resource for understanding our circumstances, evaluating our progress, and making better decisions about our collective future" .