2026 Mid-Year Budget: 950,000 Ghanaians escaped multidimensional poverty in a year - Ato Forson

• Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says about 950,000 Ghanaians moved out of multidimensional poverty between the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2025.

• The multidimensional poverty rate fell from 24.9% to 21.9%, reflecting improvements in living conditions, education, health and employment.

• The minister attributed the progress to prudent economic management, highlighting strong GDP growth, lower inflation and declining unemployment.

Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, Dr Forson said Ghana's multidimensional poverty rate fell from 24.9% in the third quarter of 2024 to 21.9% in the third quarter of 2025.

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"Multidimensional poverty, which measures deprivation across living conditions, education, health, and employment, declined from 24.9% in Q3 of 2024 to 21.9% in Q3 of 2025," he told Parliament.

The Finance Minister added: "This simply means that about 950,000 Ghanaians moved out of multidimensional poverty in just one year."

He stressed that the figures represented more than statistical improvements.

"Behind these statistics are the hundreds of thousands of families who now enjoy better living conditions and greater hope for the future," Dr Forson said.

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The minister attributed the improvement in poverty levels to what he described as prudent economic management and sustained policy implementation.

"Policies, competent economic management and consistent implementation deliver tangible results," he said.

According to Dr Forson, Ghana's real GDP grew by 6.0% in 2025, marking the fastest economic expansion since 2019, while non-oil GDP growth reached 7.6%, the highest in 14 years.

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He said the country's growth momentum had continued into 2026, with real GDP expanding by 6.4% in the first half of the year, outperforming expectations.

Dr Forson also announced that Ghana's economy had exceeded US$100 billion for the first time, describing it as a historic milestone.

"For the first time in our nation's history, the size of Ghana's economy exceeded US$100 billion, firmly establishing Ghana as a major emerging market economy," he said.

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The Finance Minister further told Parliament that the unemployment rate fell from 13.7% during the first three quarters of 2024 to 12.8% over the same period in 2025.

He also highlighted significant progress in tackling inflation, saying it had dropped from 23.8% in December 2024 to 5.4% by the end of 2025, before easing further to 5.3% in June 2026.

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Dr Forson added that Ghana's fiscal position had strengthened, with the country recording a primary surplus of 0.9% of GDP by the end of June 2026, while the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 45%, down sharply from 61.8% at the end of 2024.