Real GDP growth was 6.4% y/y in November 2019
Georgia’s economy grew by 6.4% y/y in November 2019 after growing 5.7% y/y in previous month, according to Geostat’s rapid estimates. In November 2019, real growth was recorded in manufacturing, transport and storage, construction, trade and repair of motorcycles sectors. Meanwhile, real growth was down in real estate and in arts, entertainment and recreation activities. Overall, real GDP growth was 5.3% y/y in 11M19. Monthly rapid estimates are based on VAT turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics.
Inflation was 7.0% y/y and 0.4% m/m in December 2019
Annual CPI inflation was 7.0% in December 2019, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy, non-tobacco) came in at 3.7%, up from 3.5% in previous month. Annual price changes were driven mostly by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+12.3% y/y, +3.78ppts) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+15.6% y/y, +1.03ppts) categories. Meanwhile, prices were down in clothing and footwear (-4.2% y/y, -0.14ppts) and communication (-1.4% y/y, -0.05ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was 0.4% inflation in December 2019. Price increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.4% m/m, +0.44ppts) category was the major driver of monthly inflation dynamics.
International arrivals up 16.3% y/y in December 2019
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia increased by 16.3% y/y to 0.53mn persons in December 2019, according to GNTA. This growth was mostly driven by tourist arrivals (+15.5% y/y, 58.4% of total). Same-day arrivals also increased strongly (+17.5% y/y). Out of top countries, in December 2019, international visitors increased from Armenia (+25.8% y/y), Azerbaijan (+8.8%), Turkey (+19.7% y/y), Russia (+2.6% y/y), Israel (+63.8% y/y) and Ukraine (+18.3%). Meanwhile, visitors continued to decline from Iran (-25.4% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 31.4% y/y to over 17,600 visitors, with Poland, Italy, Estonia and Germany driving the growth. Overall in 2019, total international visitors stood at 7.7mn (+7.3% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 5.1mn (+6.8% y/y) persons. Meanwhile, we estimate tourism revenues at US$ 3.3bn (+1.9% y/y) in 2019.
International reserves stood at US$ 3.5bn in December 2019
Gross international reserves were up 6.6% y/y to US$ 3.5bn in December 2019, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, reserves were up 5.4% (+US$ 179mn). Changes in reserves were related to government and banking sector FX operations and/or asset revaluation
