Only 7.7% of Ghana’s 2.64m businesses operate formally – Government Statistician

Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu says only 7.7% of Ghana’s 2.64 million businesses were operating formally in 2024, highlighting persistent challenges in business formalisation and job creation. Speaking at the launch of the maiden edition of Ghana in Numbers 2025 in Accra, he said the number of businesses had grown considerably over the past decade, but employment opportunities had not expanded at the same pace.

Data from the publication show that micro enterprises account for about 90% of businesses in the country. “Establishments nearly tripled between 2014 and 2024, while the people working in them doubled,” Dr Iddrisu said. He noted that the trend raised concerns about the capacity of the expanding business sector to generate enough jobs to match its growth.

Although Ghana’s unemployment rate fell from 14.6% in 2023 to 12.8% in 2025, more than 70% of jobs remained informal, according to the Government Statistician. He said the findings underscored the need for policies that encourage businesses to formalise their operations and create more sustainable employment opportunities. Informal cross-border trade reaches GH¢38.4bn The report also reveals the scale of informal trade across Ghana’s borders, with the country’s first survey on informal cross-border trade recording goods worth GH¢38.4 billion exchanged with Togo, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

Dr Iddrisu said the value was equivalent to 1.4 times the previously recorded trade flows with the three neighbouring countries, indicating that a significant volume of commercial activity had been missing from official statistics. Ghana also recorded a goods trade surplus of GH¢148.3 billion in 2025, with exports exceeding imports. Publication aims to support evidence-based policymaking Ghana in Numbers 2025 consolidates statistics on population, social development, governance, the environment and the Sustainable Development Goals into a single publication.

Dr Iddrisu said the initiative was intended to provide policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders with a shared evidence base for decision-making. “When we have our cabinets, parliaments, boardrooms, and newsrooms working from the same figures, the debate moves from whose figures are right to what do we do about them,” he said. The publication is accompanied by a web portal offering district-level data, interactive maps and downloadable statistics.

Dr Iddrisu said the ultimate goal was to ensure that reliable data translated into practical decisions and measurable development outcomes. “A statistic changes nothing until someone acts on it,” he added.