Issue 116: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Georgian Economy
28-Apr-2020
If the optimistic scenario proves true, Georgia’s real economy is expected to shrink by 4.3%. The Georgian economy is expected to decrease by 8% in case of less pessimistic scenario, while in the event of the very pessimistic scenario, the expected fall is 12.9%.  In the optimistic scenario, Georgia’s real GDP growth is expected to drop by 0.43% every week, while the weekly loss is more pronounced for the less pessimistic (-0.47%) and very pessimistic (-0.5%) scenarios respectively. The experiences of some European countries should be taken into account in the process of phased lifting of the restrictive measures.
Issue 115: Georgia’s External Trade, 2019
18-Feb-2020
The data analysis shows that in 2019, compared with the previous year, Georgia’s export has increased, while the country’s import decreased. In 2019, Georgia’s external trade balance amounted to negative $5.2 bln, which is a $0.49 bln decrease compared to the corresponding period of 2018.
Issue 114: Change in the Borrowing Patterns of Private Sector in Georgia
16-Jan-2020
In the past few years several major regulations were implemented both by the government and the National Bank of Georgia. In this newsletter, possible implications of imposed lending constraints on the private sector are presented.
Issue 113: Analysis of Tighter Lending Regulations in Georgia
17-Oct-2019
In the past year, in response to rising levels of private debt, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) enacted new regulations to curb excessive indebtedness. The impacts of the implemented regulations are as yet unclear but generally the reaction in the private sector has been negative. In this newsletter, a brief overview of the possible implications of these lending regulations are presented.
Issue 112: Gender Pay Gap In Georgia
03-Sep-2019
The aim of this newsletter is to briefly examine the roots of the gender pay gap in Georgia, to reveal the differences of average wage in various sectors, distributions of labour force according to gender and hourly wages for males and females. Due to data limitations, only the wages of hired employees are considered.
Issue 111: External Trade, I Quarter 2019
04-Jun-2019
The first quarter of 2019 produced some interesting figures in Georgia’s external trade. In this period, external trade was recorded with a total of 121 countries. The data analysis shows that in the first quarter of 2019, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, Georgia’s export has increased while the country’s import decreased. The analysis of Georgian trade based on import origin and export destination countries reveals that the volume of export has increased the most to Russia while the biggest decrease in imports was recorded with France.
Issue 110: Foreign Direct Investments in Georgia (2014 - 2018)
15-Apr-2019
Analysis of FDI into Georgia for 2014-2018 revealed the following general findings: In 2018, the financial, transport and communications, and energy sectors attracted the most FDI; In 2018, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands were the countries investing most in Georgia; Based on the cumulative amounts of FDI for the past five years, transport and communications (28.4%) is the most attractive sector for FDI in Georgia, while the agricultural sector is the least attractive (0.8%); Based on the cumulative amounts, countries investing most in Georgia are: Azerbaijan, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Turkey and USA. The shares of FDI from China and the EU in the total FDI into Georgia have been increasing since 2017; During 2017-2018, the share of reinvestments in the total FDI into Georgia increased, while the shares of equity and debt instruments decreased.
Issue 109: Inequality in Education
14-Mar-2019
Human capital development is increasingly seen as the biggest driver of economic growth and the most powerful tool in the fight against poverty (World Bank, 2018). This idea is embodied in the World Bank’s new…
Issue 108: Employment in Georgia (2014-2017)
13-Feb-2019
Increasing the employment rate represents one of the most significant challenges and priorities of the Georgian economy. This bulletin appraises trends related to employment for the period of 2014-2017.  
Issue 107: Georgia in International Rankings in 2018
12-Dec-2018
Georgia was ranked 66th among 140 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index1 in 2018. During 2010-2018 Georgia’s position in the ranking was improving, except one year. In 2018, compared to 2017, Georgia’s position in the ranking improved by 1 place. Among the so-called pillars measured to calculate the Global Competitiveness Index in 2018, Georgia scored best in terms of its labor market (31st place) while it was least competitive in terms of market size (102th place). Among the Central Asia and South Caucasus countries2 in 2018, Kazakhstan was the top performer in this Global Competetiveness Index (59th place), while Tajikistan held the lowest position in the index (102nd place).