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5.0 External Sector & Trade
5.1 Balance of payments, current account
Georgia - External Trade 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019* 2020* (Jan-Feb)
External trade turnover ($ mn)
10,933 11,463 9,505 9,407 10,679 12,493 12,830 1,854
Export (FOB) ($ mn)
2,910 2,861 2,205 2,113 2,736 3,356 3,762 526
Import (CIF) ($ mn)
8,023 8,602 7,300 7,294 7,943 9,137 9,068 1,327
Balance ($ mn)
-5,112 -5,741 -5,096 -5,181 -5,207 -5,781 -5,306 -801
Export excluding re-export ($ mn)
1,812 1,819 1,604 1,621 2,010 2,226 2,332 345
Current account BPM6 ($ mn)
-934.7 -1,763.6 -1,684.3 -1,934.9 -1,311.1 / / /
Current account to GDP (%)
-5.8% -10.7% -12.2% -12.9% -8.8% -7.7% / /
Source: Geostat
5.1.1 Import/export dynamics
Georgia’s merchandise trade gap narrows 8.5% in 2019
Georgia’s goods exports grew by 18.7% y/y and reached $390.4mn in December, while goods imports increased by 12.9% y/y to $927.0mn, thus the merchandise trade deficit in the month worsened by 8.9% compared to December 2018, according to data from national statistics office Geostat.
Nevertheless,for the entire year of 2019, the deficit shrunk by 8.5% y/y to $5.28bn with exports up 12.4% y/y to $3.77bn and imports down 0.8% y/y to $9.05bn.
According to Geostat, exports excluding re-exports increased by the much slower rate of 5.7% y/y to $2.35bn in 2019.
For the year, motor cars took first place on the list of export items, with a value of $686.7mn or 18.2% of total exports. Exports of copper ores and concentrates totalled $651.6mn with their share in total exports amounting to 17.3%. Ferro-alloys exports occupied third place, standing at $303mn and constituting 8.0% of total exports.
20 GEORGIA Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com
