Georgia: Turkey, China, Russia remain top trading partners in 1Q2022

Georgia: As per the preliminary data released by the Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat), Georgia’s biggest trading partners in terms of total foreign trade turnover in January-March 2022 were Turkey ($562.4 million), China ($461.9 million), and Russia ($383.3 million).

China ($220 million), Azerbaijan ($125.4 million), and Russia ($109.8 million) were Georgia’s main export partners in January-March 2022, while Turkey ($463.2 million), Russia ($273.5 million), and China ($241.9 million) were the leading import markets.

The main items which were exported are as follows:

• Copper ores and concentrates – $271 million (+71)
• Ferro-alloys – $160 million (+91.3)
• Motor cars – $94.8 million (+9.6%)

The top three import items include:

• Petroleum and petroleum oils – $244 million (+71.6)
• Copper ores and concentrates – $222 million (+52.6%)
• Motor cars – $211 million (+7.1%)

Moreover, in the first quarter of 2022 (January-March 2022), Georgia’s foreign trade turnover was $3.8 billion, a rise of 37.9% year on year.

The value of external trade has risen by 43.3 per cent and equalled $1.1 billion in the reported period, while imports also increased by 35.7 per cent, amounting to $2.6 billion. 

Furthermore, the trade deficit, which is a measure of a negative trade balance in which imports exceed exports, was $1.5 billion, with the percentage of trade turnover reaching 39.4%.

Georgia’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) climbed by 22.3 percent year on year to 60.23 billion GEL ($18.7 billion/€16.94 billion) in 2021, while real GDP growth increased by 10.4 percent.

The nominal GDP was 17.22 billion GEL ($5.35 billion/€4.84 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2021, with real GDP growth of 8.8% over the same time the previous year. GDP growth is expected to slow by 6.2 percent in 2020.