Where Ghana's printers, photocopiers and printing machines come from (2019–2024 import data)

Which countries does Ghana import printers and copiers from?

Ranked by the value of everything under the printer, copier and printing-press customs heading (HS 8443): machines, parts and toner cartridges. The last column shows how each country did in 2024 alone.

Denmark's figure is almost entirely a single high-value printer shipment in 2019, not a regular trade route.

How much printing equipment does Ghana import each year?

Ghana's recorded imports of printers, copiers, printing machines and their parts peaked at US$21.2M in 2021 and were US$13.7M in 2024. Read the section on why official figures understate the market before treating these as the true size of the market.

Where do photocopiers in Ghana come from?

Office multifunction copiers (the print, copy and scan machines most offices, schools and photocopy shops buy) come mainly from China and Dubai. Next are a group of European countries whose machines are almost all used. Ghana recorded 118,276 of these machines from 2021 to 2024.

Declared values per machine are far below what these copiers cost. That's partly because many are used, and partly because declared values are low (see below).

Where do printing presses and other printing machines come from?

Each type of machine has its own supply route. China leads for packaging (flexo) presses, screen printing and other print-shop machines. India dominates newspaper and gravure presses and is a big source of binding equipment. Germany leads for sheet-fed offset presses, declared at about US$8,084 each on average, far below the price of a new press, so these are mostly used machines.

Denmark tops the printers line because of the single 2019 shipment noted above. DTF, UV, sublimation and banner printers fall under the printer lines with ordinary office printers, so customs data can't separate them. Most on sale in Ghana are Chinese-made.

Are the printers and copiers coming into Ghana new or used?

Customs records don't mark a machine as new or used, so there's no official count. The data still points one way. Office copiers shipped from Belgium, the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden were declared at under US$3 per kilogram, against US$4.07 per kilogram for copiers from China. And Europe doesn't manufacture office copiers in volume: Canon, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Kyocera and Sharp build most of their machines in Asia. Copiers arriving from Europe are almost all ex-lease machines from offices there.

In short: new machines come mostly from China, plus India for presses and binding equipment. Used and refurbished copiers come mostly from the UK, Belgium, Germany, Poland, France and Sweden. Dubai traders, the Netherlands (partly new machines from Asia routed through Rotterdam) and the United States send a mix of both. If you're buying used, our guide on how to check a used photocopier shows how to read the page count and spot a tired machine, and used photocopy machine prices shows what they sell for.

What does this mean if you're buying a printer or copier?

• "UK used" or "foreign used" is normal, not a warning sign, but condition varies enormously. Ask for the total page count and a test print before paying.
• New machines are mostly Chinese-made, whatever the brand. What matters more is whether toner, parts and a technician are available in Ghana.
• Thinking of importing yourself? Our import guide covers duty, VAT, clearing at Tema and real landed costs. Compare with photocopy machine prices in Ghana first.

How we made this report

We downloaded Ghana's own import records from UN Comtrade for every six-digit code under HS 8443 (printing presses, printers, copiers and their parts, including toner cartridges) and HS 8440 (bookbinding machines), by year and country of origin, for 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. Ghana didn't report 2020 to UN Comtrade. Values are in US dollars including shipping and insurance (CIF), as declared at import. Shares are of total value over all years combined unless stated. Paper-cutting and paper-converting machinery (HS 8441) is left out because most of it isn't printing equipment.

For the cross-check we compared Ghana's 2023 records with the exports to Ghana reported by China, the UAE, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Türkiye. The new-vs-used analysis is our reading of declared value per kilogram and of where copier brands manufacture; customs data itself doesn't record condition. We'll update this report when Ghana's next full year is published.

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