Ghana’s Gold Output Surges 23 Percent to Nearly 6 Million Ounces in 2025 as Small Scale Miners Take the Lead

Ghana’s gold production surged 23.41 percent in 2025, reaching 5.94 million ounces from 4.82 million ounces in 2024, in a historic shift driven largely by a boom in small-scale mining that has overtaken industrial producers for the first time in over a century. The figures come from the Ghana Chamber of Mines’ 2025 annual report, presented at its 98th annual general meeting in Accra over the weekend.

Small-scale gold production recorded a dramatic 63.82 percent increase, rising from 1.90 million ounces in 2024 to 3.11 million ounces in 2025, allowing the sector to capture 52.4 percent of national output. Large-scale mining, by contrast, saw its share fall from 60.6 percent to 47.6 percent as output declined by 2.98 percent to 2.83 million ounces. The shift was supported by government reforms including the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, which helped formalize gold trading and reduce smuggling, channelling more artisanal production into official figures.

Total mining revenue grew by 10.61 percent to GH¢24.22 billion, and gold’s contribution to Ghana’s gross domestic product increased from 7.97 percent in 2024 to 9.98 percent in 2025, making it the country’s largest economic sub-sector. Employment also improved, with Chamber member companies recording a 21.52 percent increase in their direct workforce to 13,819 employees, supporting an estimated 207,285 indirect and induced jobs through multiplier effects.

Delivering his final address as outgoing Chamber president, Michael Edem Akafia said the performance was due to high output in the small-scale gold sector. He projected 2026 large-scale gold output at between 3.2 million and 3.4 million ounces and small-scale output at between 2.9 million and 3.5 million ounces, adding that the outlook would depend on policy certainty, regulatory reforms, lease renewals, improved governance of small-scale mining, and continued investment across the minerals value chain.

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However, Akafia used his farewell address to issue a stark warning to his successor, Fred Attakumah, urging the incoming leadership to press for a holistic review of the mining fiscal regime. He noted that a revised royalty structure could push Ghana’s effective tax burden on mining to between 54 and 58 percent, making it one of the highest in the world, with serious implications for future investment and exploration. The Chamber has warned that a government-proposed sliding-scale royalty regime, which would replace the current flat rate with levies rising as high as 12 percent when gold prices hit 4,500 dollars per ounce, could stall new projects and threaten the 6.5 million ounce production target for 2026.

Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, speaking at the annual general meeting, described the mining sector as the heartbeat of Ghana’s economy, the primary driver of foreign exchange earnings, and a strategic pillar of national development. He pledged the government’s resolve to ensure Ghana maintains an attractive and competitive investment climate while maximising long-term socioeconomic benefits from mineral resources for present and future generations of Ghanaians.

The 2025 figures cement a structural realignment a century in the making, with small-scale miners having become the dominant force in Ghana’s most important export industry. Whether that shift holds will rest on how Ghana navigates the tension between extracting more state value from the boom and preserving the investment conditions that sustain it.

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