Economy - overview:
Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, and chemicals. The country imports the bulk of its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable but underdeveloped hydropower capacity. Despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with the help of the IMF and World Bank, has made substantial economic gains since 2000, achieving positive GDP growth and curtailing inflation. Georgia had suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues; however, the new government is making progress and has reformed the tax code, improved tax administration, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on corruption. In addition, the reinvigorated privatization process has met with success, supplementing government expenditures on infrastructure, defense, and poverty reduction. Despite customs and financial (tax) enforcement improvements, smuggling is a drain on the economy. Georgia also suffers from energy shortages due to aging and badly maintained infrastructure, as well as poor management. Due to concerted reform efforts, collection rates have improved considerably to roughly 60%, both in T'bilisi and throughout the regions. Continued reform in the management of state-owned power entities is essential to successful privatization and onward sustainability in this sector. The country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and trade. The construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline have brought much-needed investment and job opportunities. Nevertheless, high energy prices in 2006 will compound the pressure on the country's inefficient energy sector. Restructuring the sector and finding energy supply alternatives to Russia remain major challenges.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$15.55 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$6.4 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
7% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$3,300 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 16%
industry: 26.8%
services: 57.2% (2005 est.)
Labor force:
2.04 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 40%
industry: 20%
services: 40% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
12.6% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line:
54% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 27.9% (1996)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
38 (2003)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8% (2005 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
26.6% of GDP (2005 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.43 billion
expenditures: $1.56 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products:
citrus, grapes, tea, hazelnuts, vegetables; livestock
Industries:
steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining (manganese and copper), chemicals, wood products, wine
Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2000)
Electricity - production:
8.634 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - consumption:
9.8 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports:
71 million kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports:
1.2 billion kWh (2004)
Oil - production:
1,982 bbl/day (2003)
Oil - consumption:
13,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production:
20 million cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
NA cu m
Natural gas - imports:
1.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Current account balance:
-$439.3 million (2005 est.)
Exports:
$1.4 billion (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities:
scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports; citrus fruits, tea, wine
Exports - partners:
Turkey 18.3%, Turkmenistan 17.8%, Russia 16.2%, Armenia 8.4%, UK 4.9% (2004)
Imports:
$2.5 billion (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities:
fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other foods, pharmaceuticals
Imports - partners:
Russia 14%, Turkey 10.9%, UK 9.3%, Azerbaijan 8.5%, Germany 8.2%, Ukraine 7.7%, US 6% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$350.1 million (2005 est.)
Debt - external:
$2.04 billion (2004)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $150 million (2000 est.)
Currency (code):
lari (GEL)
Exchange rates:
lari per US dollar - 1.8127 (2005), 1.9167 (2004), 2.1457 (2003), 2.1957 (2002), 2.073 (2001)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
