In the first three quarters of 2016, compared to the corresponding period of 2015, in the State Budget: • Total expenditure on social security increased by 10.7% (238.6 mln GEL) and  amounts into 2,270 mln GEL, which is 37% of total budget expenditure; • Expenditure on public pension increased by 11.7% (121.2 mln GEL);  • Expenditure on general social healthcare program increased by 16.1% (68 mln GEL); In the State Budget of 2017 expenditures on social security will increase by 8.4%. Municipalities spent a significant part of their budget for social security, for example, 27.8% (177 mln GEL) of Tbilisi budget costs is spent on social security

  In the third quarter of 2016, compared to the same period of 2015: • The GEL appreciated against the USD by 0.12% on average;• The negative trade balance increased (5.7%, USD 73.2 mln.);• The volume of remittances increased (16.1%, USD 42.4 mln.);• The volume of deposits denominated in USD also increased (35.8%, USD 1.5 mln USD).

In the first half of 2016, compared to the corresponding period of 2015: • Average monthly remuneration of employees increased by 5.4%.• The highest growth in average monthly remuneration of employees was recorded in construction (12.9%) and fishing (22.7%).• The highest paid sector is still financial services but the wages in public administration remain high compared to the average monthly remuneration across the board.• Average monthly remuneration for male is 37% more than the same indicator for female.  

During the first half of 2016 compared to the corresponding period of 2015: • Production value in the business sector increased by 10.8% as well as increased turnover (13.0%); • There was an increase in the number of people employed in the business sector (5.8%, 32 400 people) and the average monthly remuneration (5.9%, 53.3 GEL).

In the first half of 2016:• State budget revenues are executed by 100.5%, while expenditure - by 95.8%. • Expenditure on social benefits significantly increased (12.1%; 161.8 mln GEL) compared to the corresponding period in 2015. This might be due to the increase the expenditure on public health (23.4%; 62.5 mln. GEL).

In June 2016 compared to the corresponding period in 2015: • The volume of deposits (13.5%) and the volume of loans (11.2%) increased.• Taking the effect of exchange rate into consideration, the volume of deposits increased by 10.4% while the volume of loans increased by 8.2%.• There was a significant growth in the number of loans in construction (41.9%) as well as in the industrial sector (11.2%).• The average annual interest rate on deposits (-0.4 percentage point) as well as on loans (-1.5 percentage point) decreased.• The volume of non-performing loans increased by 8.4%.

In the first half of 2016, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year:    •   The volume of exports reduced (-5.7%) overall with the declines especially steep in the export of Ferro-alloys (-32.6%), motor cars (-24.5%) and medicaments (-24.4%).    •   If we discount the medicaments for hepatitis C, the volume of imports also decreased (-10.6%) overall with significant declines in the import of petroleum oil (-20.2%), petroleum gases (-28.6%) and motor cars (-15.3%).    •   Turkey became a major export partner country, while exports to Azerbaijan reduced significantly.  

During the first quarter of 2016, according to the preliminary data: The real GDP growth rate of Georgia was 2.6% The most significant sectors were industry (16.9%), trade (15.8%) and transport and communications (13%). The highest growth was recorded in the construction sector (25.7%), while the largest decline (-1.7%) was recorded in community, social and personal service.  

During the first quarter of 2016, according to the preliminary data: The real GDP growth rate of Georgia was 2.6% The most significant sectors were industry (16.9%), trade (15.8%) and transport and communications (13%). The highest growth was recorded in the construction sector (25.7%), while the largest decline (-1.7%) was recorded in community, social and personal service.  

In the first quarter of 2016, according to the preliminary data: The volume of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Georgia increased by 103% compared to the first quarter of 2015 and amounted to US$376.4 mln. The highest proportion of FDI was invested in Tbilisi (63%). The biggest three investors in Georgia by country were Azerbaijan (36.4%), Turkey (15%) and United Kingdom (11.7%). Looking at investment by sector, the most attractive sectors for investors were transport and communications (53.2%), financial services (15.3%) and energy (10.6%).