Real growth was 5.8% in 3Q19
Georgia’s economy expanded 5.8% y/y in 3Q19 after growing 4.6% y/y in previous quarter, according to Geostat. Real growth was supported by solid increases in construction (+17.1% y/y), trade (+9.8% y/y), entertainment and recreation (+19.9%), manufacturing (+4.9%), and other sectors, fully offsetting downturn in mining (-2.2% y/y), financial activities (-2.2% y/y), and public administration (-4.0% y/y). overall, real growth was 5.2% y/y in 9M19.
Exports up 25.2% y/y in November 2019
In November 2019, exports increased by 25.2% y/y to US$ 345.9mn, imports were up 4.2% y/y to US$ 782.7mn and the trade deficit narrowed 8.0% y/y to US$ 436.8mn, according to Geostat. In November 2019, copper (+95.3% y/y), cars (+81.3% y/y), wine (+17.4% y/y), spirits (+65.4% y/y) and mineral waters (+19.4% y/y) were the top 5 exported commodities. A 19.5% of exports was directed to the EU (+13.8% y/y), 53.3% to the CIS (+9.4% y/y) and 27.3% to other countries (+94.3% y/y).
In November 2019, petroleum (+8.0% y/y), copper (+17.8% y/y), cars (-18.4% y/y), gases (+17.9% y/y) and pharmaceuticals (-22.2% y/y) represented the top 5 imported commodities.
Overall, in 11M19, the trade deficit was down 10.3% y/y to US$ 4.7bn as exports were up 11.7% y/y to US$ 3.4bn and imports decreased by 2.3% y/y to US$ 8.1bn.
Producer price index up 8.5% y/y in November 2019
Annual PPI for industrial goods retreated to 8.5% in November 2019 from 9.2% in previous month, according to Geostat. Rising prices in manufacturing (+8.7% y/y) and products from mining and quarrying (+16.3% y/y) contributed the most to the overall index change.
