Georgia is increasing its role as an important trade partner for the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other countries.
In January-October trade turnover with EU countries increased by 18.6% (amounting to $2.76 billion) and with CIS countries by 27.4% YoY, to $3.51 billion, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
In the reporting period export from Georgia to the EU countries amounted to $599.7 million, while imports amounted to $2.16 billion.
In January-October export to the CIS countries stood at $1.31 billion, while imports equaled $2.19 billion.
Overall, Georgia’s top 10 trade partners in January-October made for 65.9% of the country’s total trade turnover, with Turkey ($1.42 billion), Russia ($1.12 billion) and China ($903.4 million) filling the top three spots.
Georgia’s top exported commodities in January-October were: copper ores and concentrates (worth $423.9 million, or 15.4% of total exports), motorcars ($316.6 million, or 11.5%) and ferroalloys ($301.3 million, or 11%).
Georgia’s top imported commodities were: petroleum and petroleum oils (worth $730 million, or 9.7% of total imports), motorcars ($492 million, or 6.5%) and copper ores and concentrates ($338.3 million, or 4.5%)
Overall, Georgia’s external trade grew by 20.5% in January-October and reached $10.30 billion, says Geostat.
In the first 10 months of 2018 the value of Georgia’s exports increased by 24.5%, to $2.75 billion, while the value of imports also increased 19.2%, to $7.55 billion with respect to January-October 2017. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)