Inflation was 3.7% y/y and 1.0% m/m in March 2019
The annual CPI inflation accelerated to 3.7% in March 2019 from 2.4% in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy) was 3.5% in March 2019, while core inflation excluding tobacco stood at 1.2%. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+4.8% y/y, +1.50ppts), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+20.8% y/y, +1.36ppts) and recreation and culture (+6.7% y/y, +0.38ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was 1.0% inflation in March 2019. Price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.3% m/m, +0.40ppts), recreation and culture (+7.7% m/m, +0.42ppts) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+4.2% m/m, +0.30ppts) categories were the major drivers of monthly Inflation dynamics.
Tourist arrivals up 4.3% y/y in March 2019
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia increased by 4.6% y/y to 0.51mn in March 2019, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This growth was mostly driven by tourists arrivals (+4.3% y/y to 0.33mn trips, 64.8% of total), while same-day arrivals also increased (+5.0% y/y). Out of top countries, in March 2019, international visitors increased from Azerbaijan (+11.3%), Russia (+32.2% y/y), Armenia (+1.2% y/y), Ukraine (+10.2%) and Israel (+73.0% y/y), while visitors were down from Turkey (-7.2% y/y) and Iran (-64.7% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 25.9% y/y to over 20,900 visitors, with Poland, Germany and Latvia driving growth. In 1Q19, total international visitors stood at 1.33mn (+1.1% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 0.88mn (+5.1% y/y).
