January-October 2018:
Georgia’s external trade with EU up 18.6%, with CIS up 27.4%

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 2018, trade turnover with EU countries increased by 18.6% (amounted to $2.76 billion) and with CIS countries by 27.4% year-on-year (y/y) (amounted 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 2018 export to the CIS countries stood at $1.31 billion, while imports equalled $2.19 billion. 

Overall, Georgia’s top 10 trade partners in January-October 2018 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.

What are Georgia's main exports?

Georgia's top exported commodities in January-October 2018 were:

• Copper ores and concentrates (worth $423.9 million, or 15.4% of total exports)
• Motor cars (worth $316.6 million, or 11.5% of total exports)
• Ferro-alloys (worth $301.3 million, or 11% of total exports)

What are Georgia's main imports?

Georgia's top imported commodities were:

• Petroleum and petroleum oils (worth $730 million, or 9.7% of total imports)
• Motor cars (worth $492 million, or 6.5% of total imports)
• Copper ores and concentrates (worth $338.3 million or 4.5% of total imports)

Overall, Georgia’s external trade grew by 20.5% in January-October 2018 and reached $10.30 billion, says Geostat.

In the first seven 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.