Real GDP growth came in at 9.9% y/y in July 2021
Georgia’s economy grew by 9.9% y/y in July 2021, after growing by 18.7% y/y in previous month, based on Geostat’s rapid estimates. Notably, real GDP of July 2021 was also up by 3.9% compared to July 2019 level. Overall, in 7M21, real GDP growth was 12.2% y/y (+5.4% compared to 7M19). In July, growth was broad-based with economic activity up in financial and insurance, manufacturing, hotels & restaurants, transport and trade sectors. Meanwhile, growth was down in construction and mining sectors. Monthly rapid estimates are based on VAT turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics.
Inflation was 12.8% y/y and 0.7% m/m in August 2021
Annual CPI inflation came in at 12.8% in August 2021, after a 11.9% inflation in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy) was 6.7% and core inflation excluding tobacco was 6.8% in August. By categories, annual inflation was mainly driven by price changes in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+16.2% y/y, +5.09ppts), transport (+22.5% y/y, +2.69ppts), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+11.6% y/y, +1.75ppts), health (+10.9% y/y, +0.85ppts), furnishings, household equipment and maintenance (+12.6% y/y, +0.68ppts) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+7.1% y/y, +0.45ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was a 0.7% inflation in August 2021, reflecting price increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.4% y/y, +0.45ppts) category.
