798/1 Osu, Accra
mailing address: P. O. Box 194, Accra
telephone: [233] (21) 775-347, 775-348
FAX: [233] (21) 701-813

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with a
large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the
popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of
Bolivia, which has a coat of arms centered in the yellow band

Economy Ghana

Economy - overview:
Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the
per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so,
Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and
technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major
sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to
revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of
GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders.
Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country
(HIPC) program in 2002. Priorities include tighter monetary and
fiscal policies, accelerated privatization, and improvement of
social services. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP
growth in 2004. Inflation should ease, but remain a major internal
problem.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$48.27 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.4% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,300 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 34.3%
industry: 24.2%
services: 41.4% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
10.24 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
20% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:
31.4% (1992 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 30.1% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
40.7 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
13% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.7% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.17 billion
expenditures: $2.56 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts,
bananas; timber

Industries:
mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food
processing, cement, small commercial ship building

Industrial production growth rate