World Bank keeps Ghana’s 2026 growth forecast at 4.8%
Services and recovering oil and gas activity are expected to support expansion, but slower agricultural growth highlights an uneven economic performance.
The World Bank has maintained its forecast for Ghana’s economic growth at 4.8% in 2026, with services and a recovery in oil and gas activity expected to support expansion.
The bank projects growth of 4.9% in 2027, according to its October 2026 Africa Economic Update. It also expects ongoing structural and fiscal reforms under national programmes to contribute to economic performance.
The outlook comes after Ghana’s economy expanded by 6.0% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 6.6% in the same period last year. Strong services growth contrasted with a slowdown in agriculture.
“In Ghana, economic activity remained robust in the second quarter of 2026, although growth moderated slightly,” the bank said.
Services remained the main driver of expansion, growing by 8.0% and contributing nearly three-fifths of overall GDP growth. Information and communication technology activity increased by 30.9%.
Industry also strengthened, recording growth of 4.3%, compared with 2.4% a year earlier. The bank attributed that improvement to a sharp increase in oil and gas production.
Agriculture, however, grew by 3.9%, down from 7.1%. The report linked the slowdown to a steep contraction in fishing activity.
The contrasting sector results show that the headline growth figures do not reflect uniform performance across the economy. According to the bank, expansion remained concentrated in services, ICT and hydrocarbons, while momentum weakened in parts of the non-oil economy.
Spending and investment also supported economic activity. The bank reported a 53.0% increase in investment and an 11.2% rise in domestic demand, indicating continued strength in private and public spending.
The second-quarter GDP figure measures growth against the corresponding quarter a year earlier. The bank’s 4.8% forecast covers the full year, making it a different measure from the quarterly result.
Across West and Central Africa, the bank expects growth to remain at 4.5% in 2026, unchanged from 2025, before rising to an annual average of 4.7% in 2027–28.
Ghana’s projected growth is therefore above the subregional forecast for 2026.
The bank said Nigeria, the subregion’s largest economy, continues to shape its overall performance. Excluding Nigeria, growth is expected to slow from 5.4% in 2025 to 5.0% in 2026, before recovering to an average of 5.3% in 2027–28.
For Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, the bank forecasts growth of 4.3% in 2026, but warns that its poverty-reducing impact is likely to remain limited.
That warning concerns the wider region.