Ghana has climbed to sixth place among the leading gold-producing nations worldwide, following a significant rise in output last year that pushed the country ahead of the United States.
Figures from the Ghana Chamber of Mines indicate that the country extracted 5.94 million ounces of gold in 2025, translating to approximately 185 tonnes.
The volume represents a 23.41 per cent rise over the 4.82 million ounces recorded in 2024.
Director of Analysis, Research and Finance at the Chamber of Mines, Christopher Nyarko, announced the development during an interview on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Monday, August 17.
He explained that Ghana now ranks behind China, Russia, Australia, Canada and Peru, while the United States occupies the seventh position.
Ghana had previously held the seventh spot, but increased domestic production coupled with a decline in American output resulted in the country’s advancement in the global rankings.
A major contributor to the surge was the artisanal and small-scale mining industry, whose contribution to national gold output reached 52.4 per cent in 2025.
This marked the first time in more than 100 years of commercial mining that small-scale operators surpassed their large-scale counterparts.
In contrast, output from large mining companies declined by approximately three per cent, dropping from 2.92 million ounces in 2024 to 2.83 million ounces last year.
The Chamber attributed the overall expansion partly to changes within the small-scale mining subsector and measures aimed at bringing gold transactions into the formal economy.
The establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, known as GoldBod, in 2025 has also been identified as an important step in integrating more artisanal and small-scale miners into the regulated gold market.
The United States is estimated to have produced about 160 tonnes during the same period, with Nevada contributing roughly 64 per cent of the country’s total output.
However, Mr Nyarko cautioned that international rankings may vary depending on the source and methodology used.
Looking ahead, the Chamber of Mines anticipates Ghana’s gold production could reach between 6.1 million and 6.7 million ounces in 2026.
The projected outcome, however, will largely depend on production levels from both industrial mining companies and the small-scale sector.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong