International passenger arrivals skyrockets to 131,905 for Q2

International passenger arrivals through the country’s various ports of entry surged in the second quarter of 2021 to more than 28 times to 131,905, compared to the same period in 2020.

According to the Bank of Ghana quarterly economic bulletin, in the second quarter of 2020, the country received 4,583 visitors, which showed that 127,322 passengers were received into the country from the second quarter of 2020 to the same period in 2021.

Again, the international passenger arrivals recorded for the second quarter of 2021 showed that the number went up by 33.3% when compared with 98,950 visitors received in the first quarter of 2021.

“The sharp year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals was due to the easing of travel restrictions over the review period,” the Bank of Ghana said.

According to the Central Bank, economic activity in the Real Sector had witnessed an improvement in the performance of the domestic economy during the second quarter of 2021 compared with trends observed during the same period in 2020.

It attributed the relative pick-up in real sector activities was mainly due to the continued recovery from the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Port Activities

Port Activity Economic activities at the country’s two main harbours (Tema and Takoradi), as measured by laden container traffic for imports and exports, recorded an improvement during the second quarter of 2021, compared with what was observed in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

Total container traffic for imports and exports went up by 36.5% to 199,670 from 146,266 for the second quarter of 2020. Similarly, port activity increased by 4.5% when compared to 191,051 laden containers recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

The relative improvement in port activity may be attributed to an up-tick in international trade as global Covid-restrictions eased during the quarter.

Vehicle Registration

Transport-related economic activities, measured by vehicle registration by DVLA, improved by 60.4% to 67,190 in the second quarter of 2021 compared to 41,879 vehicles registered during the corresponding quarter of 2020.

Conversely, the number of vehicles registered during the review period decreased by 30.1% relative to 96,093 vehicles recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

The comparative improvement, recorded in vehicle registration (year-on-year), was due to an increase in vehicle importation during the quarter.

Manufacturing Activities

Manufacturing-related activities, as measured by trends in the collection of direct taxes (income, corporate and others) and private sector workers’ contributions to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1), posted a positive out turn in Q2:2021.

Total direct taxes collected increased by 28.2 percent (year-on-year), to GH¢6,429.05 million in Q2:2021, relative to GH¢5,015.12 million recorded for Q2:2020.

Total direct tax collected for the quarter under review also improved by 12.4% from GH¢5,721.46 million collected in the first quarter of 2021.

In terms of contribution of the various sub-tax categories, Corporate Tax accounted for 49.9 percent, followed by Income Tax (PAYE and self-employed) with 37.7%, while other tax sources contributed 12.4%.

Construction Sector

Activities Economic activity in the construction sub-sector, as measured by the volume of cement sales, improved by 19.1% year-on-year, during the second quarter of 2021 to 1,057,271.00 tonnes, from 887,734.28 tonnes recorded in the second quarter of 2020.

Conversely, total cement sales during the review period declined marginally by 0.5% when compared with 1,062,902.24 tonnes recorded during the first quarter of 2021. The relative improvement in total cement sales was due to an uptick in construction activities during the review period.

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