Ghana has by now experienced solid growth for almost thirty years. In the late
1980s and early 1990s when much of sub-Saharan Africa saw economic
decline, Ghana stood out as one of a small number of exceptions with positive
growth. It undertook major economic reforms from 1984 onwards, and is
regularly held up as an example of successful implementation of adjustment
policies. They came with substantial aid inflows; and in recent years growth
has accelerated even further, in part with the discovery of oil and the start of
its production.
While the rate of growth has varied over time, growth in per capita GDP was
positive in every single year between 1985 and 2013. Per capita GDP grew at
1.7 per cent from 1985 to 1994; by 2.0 per cent from 1995 to 2004; and it
reached 5.3 per cent over 2005–13, in part due to 12 per cent growth experienced
in 2012. This period also saw Ghana joining the group of lower-middle countries.
Accordingly, Ghana has widely been seen as an African growth success
story, and growth is projected to remain strong over the medium-term future.