Page 29 - Caucasus Outlook 2024

3.1.5 Construction
In Georgia, from January to September 2023, a total of 8,169 construction permits were issued, encompassing an area of 6,363,090 square metres. Tbilisi, the capital city, led the way with 3,967 of these permits, covering an area of 4,335,549 square metres.
The construction sector's turnover during the first three quarters of 2023 reached GEL8.1 billion. Meanwhile, the value of the products released by this sector amounted to GEL9 billion.
Employment in the construction sector was robust, with 66,500 individuals working in this area.
In Georgia, the Construction Cost Index (CCI) saw a minor drop of 0.2% in October 2023 compared to September. This was mainly because the average monthly pay for construction workers decreased by 4.5%, affecting the index by -1.17 percentage points. However, when looking back to February 2022, there's a different story. The CCI actually increased by 12.4% since then. This rise was largely due to a 26.2% increase in the average wages of construction employees and a 7.4% hike in the prices of building materials. These factors contributed 5.91 and 4.19 percentage points, respectively, to the overall change in the index.
3.1.6 Major Sectors & Companies
In 9M23, international visitor trips to Georgia surged to over 4.8 million, marking a robust 45% YoY growth and an 81% recovery compared to 2019.
Air border crossings rebounded by 99% from the 9M 2019 level, while land border crossings constituted 69% of total trips, achieving a 75% recovery.
Neighbouring countries represented 65% of trips, with Turkey (22%) and Russia (24%) leading. The EU+UK comprised 7%, and the Middle East saw a slight increase to 3%.
In the first three quarters of 2023, travel income in Georgia surpassed 2019 levels, setting a record at $3.25 billion, a 25.9% increase compared to the same period in 2019. In comparison to 2022, travel revenues rose by $734.5 million, marking a 29.2% growth. Specifically, in Q3 2023, travel revenue reached $1.45 billion, a 28.4% increase over 2019 and a $72.5 million (5.3%) rise from the third quarter of 2022, according to the National Tourism Administration.
In 2022, Georgian Railway saw a robust 23.2% YoY growth in revenues in GEL terms, and a more substantial 36.1% increase in USD terms due to exchange rate fluctuations. The positive trend continued in 1H 2023, with a 15.6% YoY revenue rise in USD terms, although a slight decline of -1.7% was observed in GEL terms.
29 Central Asia & Caucasus Outlook 2021 www.intellinews.com