Ghana’s Government Statistician has warned that the country’s continued reliance on outdated economic measurement frameworks risks producing flawed data that distorts policymaking, as the global statistical community prepares to roll out the most significant update to national accounting standards in nearly two decades.
Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu issued the warning following engagements with fellow statisticians, central bank officials and international partners on the transition to two new global frameworks: the System of National Accounts 2025 (SNA 2025) and the seventh edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM7). “The economy has changed. Our statistics must catch up,” he said. “If we measure wrong, we govern wrong.”
The SNA 2025 was adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 56th session in 2025 as the updated international standard for national accounts statistics, replacing the 2008 edition that has underpinned economic measurement globally for nearly two decades. BPM7, released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March 2025, updates global standards for external sector statistics to reflect evolving economic interconnectedness, digitalisation, and financial innovations. IMF member countries are encouraged to implement both standards within a target window of 2029 to 2030.
Dr. Iddrisu’s remarks follow his participation in a High-Level Workshop on the Implementation of the 2025 SNA and BPM7, organised by the African Union Institute for Statistics and held in Addis Ababa from March 31 to April 2, bringing together senior statisticians and central bank officials from across the continent alongside international partners including the IMF and the United Nations Statistics Division.
Dr. Iddrisu said the current 2008 framework fails to capture large and growing segments of Ghana’s economy. “GDP measurement using 2008 SNA is no longer enough. We must capture the digital economy, informal sector, mobile money, debt risks, and natural resources. This is not a one-off reform. It is a system transformation. The old lens is too narrow,” he said.
The new standards expand economic measurement beyond output to incorporate broader indicators tied to sustainability, inequality, and resource depletion. “We move from measuring output to measuring real value and sustainability, data as an asset, the digital economy and global flows, inequality and who benefits from growth, and natural resource depletion,” he said.
Dr. Iddrisu drew lessons from the patchy implementation of earlier reforms, cautioning that institutional coordination failures have repeatedly undermined the impact of new standards. “SNA 2008 and BPM6 showed us what fails: weak coordination, outdated systems, underinvestment, and tick-box implementation,” he said.
He outlined a set of conditions he believes will determine whether Ghana succeeds where earlier transitions fell short. “What will determine success: a clear roadmap, serious stakeholder engagement, investment in people, systems and data, clear communication to build trust, and realistic timelines and prioritisation,” he said.
For Ghana specifically, the transition requires coordinated action across institutions. “We must act decisively: build a strong national roadmap, fix coordination across institutions, capture the informal and digital economy, invest in modern data systems and skills, and engage all stakeholders, from government to private sector,” he said.
While acknowledging the support available from development partners, Dr. Iddrisu stressed that leadership on implementation must be domestic. “Global partners are ready to support, but countries must lead,” he said, closing with a message on the stakes involved. “Better data, better decisions, better lives. Statistics are not just numbers. They are the foundation of economic transformation.”
