Trade deficit down 27.7% y/y in June 2020
In June 2020, exports decreased by 14.0% y/y to US$ 266.9mn, after falling 31.3% in previous month and imports fell by 22.0% y/y to US$ 576.3mn after a 36.8% y/y drop in previous month. As the result, trade deficit narrowed by 27.7% y/y to US$ 309.4mn according to Geostat’s preliminary figures. In 1H20, trade deficit was down 21.3% y/y to US$ 2.0bn as exports decreased by 16.0% y/y and imports were down 19.1% y/y. Detailed foreign trade statistics will be available on July 20, 2020.
Money transfers up 17.8% y/y in June 2020
In June 2020, money transfers rebounded strongly, increasing by 17.8% y/y to US$ 169.2mn, after a 9.6% y/y drop in previous month, according to NBG. From major countries, money transfers were up from Italy (+38.8% y/y, 15.8% of total), USA (+31.1% y/y, 11.8% of total), Greece (+16.5% y/y, 11.8% of total) and Israel (+3.6% y/y, 8.2% of total). Meanwhile remittances were down from Russia (-6.4% y/y, 19.2% of total). Overall, in 1H20 money transfers were down 4.6% y/y to US$ 769.0mn.
International arrivals decreased by 94.8% y/y in June 2020
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia continued falling in June 2020 (down 94.8% y/y to c.38k persons) according to GNTA, as borders remained closed for international travel. This fall reflected both reduced same-day arrivals (-96.5% y/y) and tourist arrivals (-93.9% y/y, 76.3% of total). In June 2020, international visitors were down from all neighboring countries: Turkey (-88.0%), Armenia (-92.5% y/y), Azerbaijan (-97.1% y/y) and Russia (-97.7% y/y). Visitors from the EU were down 98.6% y/y to 714 visitors, with Germany, Poland and UK contributing most to the decline. In 1H20, total international arrivals stood at 1.2mn (-61.9% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 0.85mn (-60.2% y/y) persons. Meanwhile, based on NBG, tourism revenues stood at US$ 456.5mn (-68.6% y/y) in 1H20
