Georgia’s external trade up 21% in 2016

Georgia’s external trade grew by 21 percent in 2016 and totaled $11.98 billion, shows the latest preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

Last year the value of Georgia’s exports dropped by four percent to $2.11 billion, while the value of imports increased 28 percent to $9.87 billion, Geostat reported. 

Georgia’s trade deficit equalled $7.75 billion in 2016, which was a 65 percent share of the country's total trade turnover, showed the latest data by Geostat.

Trade deficit is an economic measure of the negative balance of trade in which a country's imports exceed its exports.

Imports excluding Hepatitis C medications were worth $7.25 billion – 0.4 percent less compared to 2015.