Manufacturing costs rise in Georgia

Georgian producers are having to raise the cost of locally-made products to keep up with growing manufacturing costs, meaning consumers are now paying slightly more for basic goods and services.

In September 2016 the Producer Price Index (PPI) for industrial products was 0.2 percent higher than in August 2016, said the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

Year-on year (y/y) PPI dropped 1.9 percent however it was still 22.1 percent higher compared to the 2010 average, said Geosat.

The increase of Georgia’s monthly PPI rate in September was mainly driven by a 0.2 percent price increase in manufacturing, which had an upward effect of 0.14 percentage points on the overall monthly index change.

In the manufacturing sector, it was 1.2 percent more expensive to manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco.

Meanwhile, prices related to the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products decreased 2.2 percent, said Geostat.

In the reporting period the cost of supply of electricity, gas and water increased one percent and these services contributed 0.13 percentage points to the overall index change.