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All is set for the commencement of the 2025 Integrated Business Establishment Survey II (IBES II), Ghana’s fifth economic census, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced.
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The nationwide data collection exercise is scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 10, 2025, and will end in September.
A total of 2,600 trained field officers will be deployed across the country to collect data from about 44,000 business establishments across the country.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a month-long training workshop for field officers and launch of the IBES II in Accra on Wednesday, the Government Statistician, Dr Alhasan Iddrisu, underscored the importance of the survey, describing it as the most ambitious of its kind yet.
“This survey, IBES II, is the fifth of its kind in the history of the country—following previous rounds conducted in 1962, 1987, 2003, and 2015. But this one is the most ambitious one yet, and that’s why we can’t fail,” Dr Iddrisu said.
The Government Statistician said the report for the IBES II survey would be ready in December.
He explained that the IBES II would provide comprehensive data essential for rebasing key economic indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Producer Price Index (PPI), and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
“Every data point you collect fits directly into the veins of national planning,” he said, stressing that the exercise would help inform business support strategies and shape government policy.
Dr Iddrisu said, “You are not just collecting data. You are shaping how Ghana understands itself, and that’s indeed a very powerful responsibility. And with that power comes trust.”
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He urged the field officers to carry out their work with diligence, integrity, and a sense of national duty, adding that the oath of secrecy they had taken must be upheld in spirit and in action.
“To the business community, this is your moment too. When our field officers visit, we expect you to open your doors and share your story. The data will be used to help create a better business environment and more informed policies.”
Dr Iddrisu also called on the media to play an active role in raising awareness about the importance of the exercise, saying “Help us tell the story. Data collection is not an inconvenience—it is an investment,” he said.
The Director of Business, Trade and Industry Directorate at the GSS, Dr Owusu Kagya, urged the field officers to be diligent in the data collection.
He said small errors could create distortions and credibility of the data.
Dr Kagya urged the field officers to go by the oath of secrecy they had sworn and not divulge information they would collect to anybody.
The Head of Business Statistics Unit and National IBES Coordinator, Dr Anthony Krakah, said the survey would collect data from 44,000 out of the 1.8 million establishments in the country.
He said the field officers had been adequately trained for the exercise and digital systems had been deployed for the real time collection and processing of data of the exercise.
“Stringent measures have been put in place to ensure the quality of data collected,” Dr Krakah said.
He said any field officer who attempted to falsify data would be made to face full the rigours of the law.
