Ghana’s gold export earnings nearly doubled in 2025 to US$20.9 billion, according to central bank data, underscoring the metal’s growing importance to the West African economy as new state-led reforms begin to reshape the sector.
Total export revenues rose to US$31.1 billion in 2025 from US$19.1 billion a year earlier, the Bank of Ghana said on Tuesday. Gold accounted for more than two-thirds of the total, far outstripping cocoa and oil, traditionally among the country’s main foreign exchange earners.
The increase in gold revenues from US$10.3 billion in 2024 reflects both higher international prices and changes in domestic regulation, particularly in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector. Gold prices have risen more than 70 percent over the past year amid global economic uncertainty and strong investor demand.
Cocoa exports generated $3.8 billion in 2025, roughly double the previous year, while oil exports lagged behind at US$2.6 billion. Other exports contributed about us$3.6 billion, the data showed. Ghana maintained a trade surplus over the period, supported largely by the strength of gold shipments.
Africa’s leading gold producer introduced a series of reforms in 2025 aimed at tightening oversight of gold trading and improving state revenues. Central to the effort is the Ghana Gold Board, known as GoldBod, a state-owned entity mandated to regulate domestic gold trading and purchase output from artisanal miners for export.
Artisanal and small-scale mining, long associated with informal trading and revenue leakages, was brought under GoldBod’s supervision in May 2025. Since then, the board has become the sole buyer of gold produced by licensed small-scale miners.
In late December, GoldBod said it had exported a record 100 tonnes of gold during its first year of operations, generating approximately us$10 billion in revenue. That figure represents roughly half of Ghana’s total gold export earnings in 2025, based on central bank data.
Comprehensive national production figures have yet to be released, making it difficult to determine the exact contribution of large-scale industrial mines, which operate outside GoldBod’s mandate. However, analysts say the data suggest that the formalisation of artisanal mining has already had a significant impact on export performance.
“The surge in gold revenues comes against the backdrop of ongoing reforms in Ghana’s gold trading and value chain management, including enhanced state oversight and the formalisation of gold flows,” GoldBod said in a statement responding to the central bank’s figures.
Gold is expected to remain a central pillar of Ghana’s economic strategy in 2026, as authorities seek to further increase state revenue from the mining sector. In November 2025, the government launched an audit of 19 large-scale mining operations to verify royalty and tax payments and improve transparency. The audit includes mines operated by Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti and China’s Zijin Mining.
The government has also announced plans to abolish mining stability agreements, which guarantee fixed tax terms for investors, and has proposed raising gold royalties to between 9 percent and 12 percent from the current range of 3 percent to 5 percent
Officials say the measures are intended to ensure the state captures a greater share of mining revenues, particularly as gold prices remain elevated. However, industry groups have warned that abrupt policy changes could deter investment if not carefully implemented.
Similar reforms in neighbouring Mali following the adoption of a new mining code in 2023 led to a dispute with Canada’s Barrick Mining, resulting in the suspension of production at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in 2025. The shutdown contributed to a sharp drop in Mali’s industrial gold output.
For Ghana, where gold now dominates export earnings more than ever, analysts say balancing higher state revenues with a stable and predictable investment climate will be critical as reforms continue to unfold.
