Economic activities mixed in 7 months of 2026; Cement sales decline by 10%
Retail sales, however, declined by 1.5% (year-on-year) to GH¢236.41 million in July 2026, down from the GH¢239.89 million recorded in the same period in 2025.
In July 2026, consumer spending exhibited mixed results when compared to the same period in 2025, according to the September Monetary Policy Report. Domestic VAT collections rose by 11.5% year-on-year to GH¢2.142 billion, while retail sales dipped by 1.5% to GH¢236.41 million. Over the first seven months of 2026, domestic VAT collections increased by 13.8% to GH¢13.617 billion, and retail sales grew by 2.2% compared to the same period in 2025.
Manufacturing activities showed improvement in July 2026, with direct taxes collected increasing by 53.5% year-on-year to GH¢8.085 billion. For the same period, private sector workers' contributions to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1) grew by 11.2% to GH¢570.59 million. Cumulatively, direct taxes and SSNIT contributions for the first seven months of 2026 rose by 27.7% and 10.7%, respectively.
The construction sector, however, experienced a decline in activities, with cement sales dropping by 4.9% year-on-year in July 2026 to 202,218.17 tonnes. Cumulatively, cement sales for the first seven months of 2026 decreased by 10.3% to 1,475,115.01 tonnes, compared to 1,644,413.19 tonnes in the same period of 2025. This decline was attributed to reduced construction activities during the review period.
In terms of vehicle registrations, the transport sector saw significant improvement, with new vehicle registrations up by 51.7% to 31,909 vehicles in July 2026. For the first seven months of 2026, the number of vehicles registered increased by 52.7% to 228,261, compared to 149,440 registered in the same period of 2025.
Written by urgent.news from Joy Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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