This the amount of money Ghana spent on the importation of cars, rice and used clothing every year

Ghana imports mostly industrial supplies, capital and consumer goods, and foodstuffs, and its main imports partners are China, the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and France.

Ghana's imports of motor cars and vehicles were US$492 million in 2019, according to statistics from the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Every year, Ghana spends over $1 million on the importation of cars into the country.

The top imports of Ghana are refined petroleum products which cost about $669m, cars $492m, rice $391m, delivery trucks $283m, and coated flat-rolled iron $273m, imported mostly from China $6.75m, the Netherlands $867m, the United States $787m, India 749m, and the United Arab Emirates $522m.

In 2020, Ghana was the world's biggest importer of used clothing $182m.

Also in 2020, Ghana exported a total of $13.1 billion, making it the number 80 exporter in the world, and during the last five years, the exports of Ghana changed by $1.6 billion from $14.8 billion in 2015 to $13.1 billion.

The most recent exports are led by gold was $5.93 billion, crude petroleum at $2.71 billion, cocoa beans at $1.28 billion, cocoa paste at $414 million, and coconuts, brazil nuts, and cashews at $361 million.

The most common destination for the exports in Ghana are Switzerland $3.07 billion, the United Arab Emirates $1.64 billion, China $1.52 billion, India $1.18 billion, and the Netherlands $697 million.

The vast majority of cars in Ghana are imported. Duty of 5%, 10%, or 20%, depending on engine capacity, a sales levy at 17.5%, and various other small levies up to 4% are added to the import value of cars, leaving new vehicles prohibitively expensive for most.

Last year, Ghana spent an estimated total of GH¢6.874 billion on the importation of rice 2017 to 2020.

And again in 2021, $25.66 billion of goods and services are expected to be exported from Ghana. This was an increase compared to the two previous years.

Furthermore, in terms of goods, gold was the leading exported commodity from Ghana in 2019, as it registered the highest value.

Statistics from the Bank of Ghana showed that imports in Ghana decreased to $1,193 million in December from $1,291.30 million in November of 2021.

Ghana was ranked 73rd economy in the world in terms of GDP, 80th in total exports, 83rd in total imports, 146th economy in terms of GDP per capita, and the 120th most complex economy.

The importation of these products has left many Ghanaians wondering if the country is on the agenda of production.