Ghana’s industrial sector recorded stronger growth in the first quarter of 2026, with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rising by 3.2% year-on-year, up from 1.9% in the final quarter of 2025, according to the first quarter IIP report from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The improvement reflects increased production activity across key industrial sectors, particularly manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and electricity and gas.
The IIP, which measures changes in production volumes within the industrial sector, rose to 105.6 in the first quarter of 2026 from 102.4 in the corresponding period of 2025.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, industrial production expanded by 2.9%, compared with marginal growth of 0.1 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Manufacturing remained the strongest contributor to industrial growth, recording a year-on-year expansion of 6.3 percent.
Mining and quarrying rebounded from a contraction of 1.2% in the previous quarter to post growth of 1.1%, while electricity and gas grew by 1.7%.
The report noted that the turnaround in mining and quarrying contributed significantly to overall industrial performance, accounting for 0.6 percentage points of the total year-on-year growth.
Manufacturing contributed 2.6 percentage points, making it the largest contributor to industrial expansion during the period.
Within the manufacturing sector, the highest-performing sub-industries included the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products, which grew by 19%, followed by food manufacturing at 14.4% and the production of other non-metallic mineral products at 10.8%.
Chemical products, machinery and equipment, fabricated metal products, wood products, printing services, and pharmaceutical manufacturing also recorded growth above the sector average.
In the mining sector, metal ore mining expanded by 7.8%, while other mining and quarrying activities grew by 6.0%.
However, crude petroleum and natural gas extraction contracted by 6.4%, highlighting ongoing challenges in the upstream petroleum industry.
The electricity and gas sector continued to support industrial output, recording quarter-on-quarter growth of 8.5% and year-on-year growth of 1.7%.
Despite the overall positive performance, the water supply, sewerage and waste management sector remained under pressure.
The sector contracted by 1.3% year-on-year and recorded a sharp quarter-on-quarter decline of 19.1 percent, making it the weakest-performing component of the industrial sector.
The GSS said the industrial sector’s improved performance demonstrates resilience and growing productive capacity in key areas of the economy.
It recommended sustained investment, infrastructure development and productivity-enhancing measures to maintain growth momentum in manufacturing, mining, and energy.
The Service also urged policymakers and industry stakeholders to investigate the causes of the decline in the water supply and waste management sector and implement targeted interventions to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.
The Index of Industrial Production is compiled using a fixed basket of 255 products from 250 domestic producers, with 2021 serving as the base year.
