Georgia Economy - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Economic overview

Georgia's main economic activities include cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese, copper, and gold; and producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, and chemicals in small-scale industries. The country imports nearly all of its needed supplies of natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable hydropower capacity that now provides most of its electricity needs.

 

Georgia has overcome the chronic energy shortages and gas supply interruptions of the past by renovating hydropower plants and by increasingly relying on natural gas imports from Azerbaijan instead of from Russia. Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the South Caucasus gas pipeline, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad are part of a strategy to capitalize on Georgia's strategic location between Europe and Asia and develop its role as a transit hub for gas, oil, and other goods.

 

Georgia's economy sustained GDP growth of more than 10% in 2006-07, based on strong inflows of foreign investment, remittances, and robust government spending. However, GDP growth slowed following the August 2008 conflict with Russia, and sank to negative 4% in 2009 as foreign direct investment and workers' remittances declined in the wake of the global financial crisis. The economy rebounded in the period 2010-17, but FDI inflows, the engine of Georgian economic growth prior to the 2008 conflict, have not recovered fully. Unemployment remains persistently high.

 

The country is pinning its hopes for faster growth on a continued effort to build up infrastructure, enhance support for entrepreneurship, simplify regulations, and improve professional education, in order to attract foreign investment and boost employment, with a focus on transportation projects, tourism, hydropower, and agriculture. Georgia had historically suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues; however, since 2004 the government has simplified the tax code, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on petty corruption, leading to higher revenues. The government has received high marks from the World Bank for improvements in business transparency. Since 2012, the Georgian Dream-led government has continued the previous administration's low-regulation, low-tax, free market policies, while modestly increasing social spending and amending the labor code to comply with International Labor Standards. In mid-2014, Georgia concluded an association agreement with the EU, paving the way to free trade and visa-free travel. In 2017, Georgia signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China as part of Tbilisi’s efforts to diversify its economic ties. Georgia is seeking to develop its Black Sea ports to further facilitate East-West trade.

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$52.33 billion (2020 est.)

$55.76 billion (2019 est.)

$53.12 billion (2018 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

5% (2017 est.)

2.8% (2016 est.)

2.9% (2015 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$14,100 (2020 est.)

$15,000 (2019 est.)

$14,300 (2018 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$17.694 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.8% (2019 est.)

2.6% (2018 est.)

6% (2017 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: BB (2019)

Moody's rating: Ba2 (2017)

Standard & Poors rating: BB (2019)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 8.2% (2017 est.)

industry: 23.7% (2017 est.)

services: 67.9% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 62.8% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 17.1% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 29.5% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 2.4% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 50.4% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -62.2% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

milk, grapes, maize, potatoes, wheat, watermelons, tomatoes, tangerines/mandarins, barley, apples

Industries

steel, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining (manganese, copper, gold), chemicals, wood products, wine

Industrial production growth rate

6.7% (2017 est.)

Labor force

686,000 (2019 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 55.6%

industry: 8.9%

services: 35.5% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate

11.8% (2016 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 31.3%

male: 30.5%

female: 32.7% (2020 est.)

Population below poverty line

19.5% (2019 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

36.4 (2018 est.)

46 (2011)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2%

highest 10%: 31.3% (2008)

Budget

revenues: 4.352 billion (2017 est.)

expenditures: 4.925 billion (2017 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-3.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

44.9% of GDP (2017 est.)

44.4% of GDP (2016 est.)

note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities; Georgia does not maintain intragovernmental debt or social funds

Taxes and other revenues

28.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

-$1.348 billion (2017 est.)

-$1.84 billion (2016 est.)

Exports

$5.94 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$9.54 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$8.9 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Exports - partners

Russia 12%, Azerbaijan 12%, Armenia 9%, Bulgaria 8%, China 6%, Turkey 6%, Ukraine 6% (2019)

Exports - commodities

copper, cars, iron alloys, wine, packaged medicines (2019)

Imports

$8.94 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$11.11 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$10.77 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - partners

Turkey 17%, China 11%, Russia 9%, Azerbaijan 6%, United States 6%, Germany 5% (2019)

Imports - commodities

cars, refined petroleum, copper, packaged medicines, natural gas (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$3.039 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$2.756 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Debt - external

$18.149 billion (2019 est.)

$17.608 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

laris (GEL) per US dollar -

2.535 (2017 est.)

2.3668 (2016 est.)

2.3668 (2015 est.)

2.2694 (2014 est.)

1.7657 (2013 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Georgia on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Georgia 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Georgia 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.