Georgia’s foreign trade in January-May 2021
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, June 15
The National Statistics Office (Geostat) released the preliminary data on June 14, according to which Georgia’s foreign trade turnover in the first 5 months of 2021 was $5.01 billion – an increase of 18.2% compared to the same period last year.
Exports increased by 24.4% year-on-year reaching $1.53 billion, while imports increased by 15.7%, to $3.48 billion. Meanwhile, in express data the trade deficit in January-May 2021 amounted to $1.94 million which is 38.7% of total trade turnover.
Geostat also published the statistics for local visitors - in the first quarter of 2021, the average monthly number of local visitors aged 15 and older in Georgia was set at 1,094.4 thousand, who made 1,234.6 thousand visits to the country.
According to them, the number of visitors during this period is 23.4% higher than the corresponding data for the first quarter of 2020.
In the first quarter of the current year, the average monthly number of tourist-type visits made by resident visitors to Georgia was set at 554 000, which is 28.8 % higher than the indicator of the same period last year. “In the first quarter of 2021, people aged 31-50 were amongst the most avid domestic travelers (39%). 50.9% of visits were made by women,” says Geostat.
According to the Geostat survey, 42.7% of visitors are residents of Tbilisi, 12.3% come from the Kvemo Kartli region, 10.9% from the Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions, and the rest of the regions have a relatively low share in the structure.
As for the purpose of the visits, the 47.1%, was for visiting friends / relatives. Most visits were made to Georgian capital city of Tbilisi (average 262 000 visits per month) and the Imereti region (av. 210 000).
According to Geostat, the average monthly expenses during the visits in the first quarter of 2021 was set at GEL184.2 million. This figure is 44.9% higher than the corresponding period last year. The average cost of the visit increased by 22% and amounted to GEL149.2.
