Page 27 - GEORptOct22

several years, grew by only 8-9% in 2015-16 as wage growth slowed and unemployment rose.
Retail sales y/y in Georgia averaged 14.5% from March 2010 to June 2021.
5.0 External Sector & Trade
5.1 Balance of payments, current account
Georgia - External Trade 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* Jan-Jul 2022*
External trade turnover ($ mn)
9,505 9,459 10,802 12,741 13,318 11,396 14,342 10,188
Export (FOB) ($ mn)
2,205 2,117 2,746 3,380 3,798 3,343 4,242 3,101
Import (CIF) ($ mn)
7,304 7,342 8,057 9,362 9,519 8,053 10,100 7,087
Trade Balance ($ mn)
-5,100 -5,225 -5,311 -5,982 -5,721 -4,709 -5,857 -3,987
Export excluding re-export ($ mn) (Domestic export)
1,603 1,620 2,008 2,226 2,324 2,408 3,127 2,226
Source: Geostat
5.1.1 Import/export dynamics
Georgia’s negative trade balance at $4
In the first seven months of the year, Georgia's external merchandise trade amounted to $10.2bn, higher by 35% y/y.
The exports equalled $3bn, 37% higher y/y, while imports stood at $7bn, recording a 35% y/y increase. The negative trade balance was about $4bn in January-July, and its share in external trade turnover constituted 39%, reads the recent report of the National Statistics Office of Georgia.
In January-July, the share of the top 10 trading partners by exports in the total exports of Georgia amounted to almost 80%. The leading partners were China at $476mn, Azerbaijan at $351mn and Russia at $339mn.
In January-July, the share of the top 10 trading partners by imports in the total imports of Georgia amounted to 67%. The principal partners were Turkey $1.3bn, Russia $875mn and China $619mn.
27 GEORGIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com