Establishments nearly tripled from 638,235 in 2014, while the people working in them only doubled, from 3.38 million to 6.90 million.

Published 3 Nov 2026, 12:24 GMT

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The Ghana In Numbers report issued by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said that Ghana had 2,644,363 businesses in 2024.

The report made reference to the first Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES I), stating that 1,867,695 establishments were working inside fixed structures, 693,748 open-space businesses and 82,920 were mobile businesses.

Establishments nearly tripled from 638,235 in 2014, while the people working in them only doubled, from 3.38 million to 6.90 million, it said.

It further stated that nine in ten establishments are micro businesses with one to five people, and only 7.7 per cent are formal, falling to 6.7 per cent among those started between 2015 and 2023.

"Women run most micro, open-space and mobile businesses, and formal, digitally connected and paid work is most common in Greater Accra," it said.

On the economy, in general, the report said that in nominal GDP terms, it reached about GH¢1.4 trillion in 2025, and income per person rose from GH¢4,710 in 2013 to GH¢42,502 in 2025.

Services make up 45.9 percent of what the economy produces, and Ghana sold GH¢148.3 billion more goods to other countries than it bought from them.

"Not all trade passes a customs desk: a first survey of informal cross-border trade found that goods worth GH¢38.4 billion crossed Ghana’s land borders with Togo, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire in the year to September 2025, about 6 cedis in every 100 of all the country’s trade and the main way Ghana trades with these three neighbours," it said.

It also indicated that prices are rising much more slowly than before: food prices were climbing at 61.0 percent at their peak in January 2023 and have since calmed down to 4.9 percent by end 2025. Farms keep producing more food, yet the government spent only about 0.2 percent of the economy on agriculture in 2024, less than one cedi in every hundred it spent.

Ghana in Numbers is the Ghana Statistical Service’s national record book. It brings together the country’s official numbers (on people, health and schooling, the economy, government, the environment, and the Sustainable Development Goals) in one plain-language volume.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in his foreword to this report, said that when citizens can see the very same figures their leaders use, trust grows and government can be held to account.

He said openness is the foundation of a confident nation.

Numbers, he said, give that truth.

"When we know the facts, we choose better, for our families, for our businesses, and for the whole nation. That is why, as Minister for Finance, I placed Ghana in Numbers at the heart of Government’s plans," he said.

In the 2026 Budget, he told Parliament that “in 2026, the GSS will unveil a flagship annual publication, Ghana in Numbers, that tells our national story through data.”

He said this is that publication, and from now on it will be published every year.

"Government stands behind this report for a simple reason. Public money and public power must be matched by public facts. When citizens can see the very same figures their leaders use, trust grows and government can be held to account. Openness is the foundation of a confident nation," he sdaid.

Dr Forson further explained that Ghana in Numbers is also part of a wider drive to make our statistics stronger and more trustworthy, alongside the rebasing of our national income (GDP) and consumer price figures, and other improvements to the national statistical system.

Together, he said, these reforms give Ghana a firmer base of evidence on which to build. My commitment is plain: the figures in this book will guide the choices we make. Good policy is not built on opinion or guesswork.

" It is built on evidence. Here, year after year, that evidence is gathered in one trusted place. This achievement belongs to the Ghana Statistical Service. I thank the Government Statistician, and the management and staff of the Service for the skill and dedication that turned complex data into a book every Ghanaian can read, and I commend the Board for the leadership and guidance behind this flagship work. Ghana is better for their effort," he said.

He further invited every Ghanaian, from student and teacher to trader and farmer to public officer and citizen, to open this book, read it, and use it.

"Our national story is written in these numbers. Let us read it honestly and together write its next chapter," he said.

Laud NarteyLaud Nartey is a current affairs editor with the MG News team at Media General, serving TV3 Ghana, 3News, Onua TV and more platforms.

Ghana Had 2.6 Million Registered Businesses in 2024 - GSS Report

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