Page 17 - GEORptFeb22

Industrial production rose 34.3% y/y in Q3
The two-year growth rate, calculated in order to avoid the base effects caused by the lockdown in 2020, was even stronger in the second quarter of this year when it was +4.2% per annum.
Georgia’s industrial production rose 34.3% in the third quarter of 2021, down from a surge of 47.8% in the previous quarter, according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). Production expanded at a faster pace for almost all sectors such as manufacturing, mining and utilities.
4.2 Inflation 4.2.1 CPI dynamics
Inflation in Georgia peaks at 13.9% y/y in December
Georgia’s inflation rose to 13.9% y/y in December after it has hovered between 12% y/y and 13% y/y since August, the statistics office Geostat announced.
Core inflation, however, eased to 5.9% y/y from 6.1% y/y in November.
The spike in the headline inflation reflects base effects caused by utility subsidies extended by the government in December 2020, when the price of the housing contracted by 22% m/m and the overall consumer prices consequently dropped by 1% m/m. The subsidies were phased off in March 2021, when the price of housing rose by 36% m/m. This base effect is likely to maintain the headline inflation at an elevated level by March 2022.
In December 2021, consumer prices increased by only 0.3% m/m.
The food prices, 0.8% up m/m and 15.6% higher than a year earlier, remain the main inflationary driver. They contributed 0.27pp tp the month’s 0.3% m/m
17 GEORGIA Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com