ACCRA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 2.9 percent in 2023, the Ghana Statistical Service announced Wednesday.

Despite the strong growth rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the overall growth rate for the year slowed by 0.9 percentage points compared to the 2022 growth rate, said Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician, during a press briefing in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

"The annual GDP growth rate for the industry sector returned to contraction, growing by minus 1.2 percent in 2023," Annim said, adding that the services sector recorded a growth rate of 5.5 percent, powered by information and communication technology and health and social works.

"The agriculture sector recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 4.5 percent, with livestock and crops recording higher growth rates than the national average," he added.

Ghana has been implementing economic reforms since May, backed by a 3-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund to tackle multiple protracted economic challenges including currency depreciation and high cost of living.