Indexes
May 15, 2017 FPI | Cabbage in the Spotlight
23
May
2017
Retail food prices increased by 3.4% on an annual basis (that is, compared to May 2016), but decreased by 1.2% on a monthly basis (that is, compared to April 2017). The biggest price increase was for cabbage, potatoes, and peaches (76.5%, 30.2%, and 17.5%, respectively). The price of cucumbers, eggplants, and greens became significantly lower and decreased by 60.0%, 25.8%, and 15.4% respectively.
A CLOSER LOOK AT CABBAGE PRICES
Cabbage is among the products that exhibited the largest increase in prices in May compared to the same month of the previous year. The price of cabbage now is around 1 GEL, whereas last year it was 0.47 GEL on average in the same time period. Thus, cabbage prices in the major supermarkets of Tbilisi have more than doubled y/y.
According to the trade statistics, both the import value and quantity of cabbage follow the same trends and are quite volatile. Given that in 2017, the value of cabbage imports for January-April is already higher than for the whole year of 2016, the increase in cabbage prices is quite surprising. In the first quarter of 2017, import value amounted to 462,000 USD, which is a bit higher than 404,000 USD for 2016, and the year has just begun. It is true that most imports occur during the first half of the year, and are almost zero in summer; they usually start to increase by the end of the year. This means that imports for 2017 most likely will be much higher than in 2016, which should contribute to a decrease in prices unless domestic production is extremely low.
Recent Publications
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September 2024 | Agri Review
04
October
2024
The National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat) has published its second quarterly bulletin for 2024. The publication highlights that the real GDP in agriculture, forestry, and fishing increased by 0.7% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Furthermore, agriculture contributed to 5.3% of the country’s total GDP during the first quarter of 2024.
June 2024 | Agri Review
28
June
2024
In June 2024, the National Statistics Office of Georgia issued its annual publication on the agricultural sector – Agriculture of Georgia 2023. The publication estimates that agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 6.9% of the GDP in 2023, which is slightly lower than in previous years, but in line with general trends over the last few years (agricultural GDP being 7-8% of GDP on average).
March 2024 | Agri Review
01
April
2024
In June 2023, responding to appeals from the Georgian Flour Producers Association, the Georgian government imposed a temporary import duty on wheat flour imported from Russia. This advocacy by the Association began after Russia implemented a “floating tariff” on wheat in 2021, making wheat imports more expensive compared to wheat flour.
December 2023 | Agri Review
29
December
2023
Citrus production in Georgia is currently experiencing a declining trend, despite the implementation of a tangerine state subsidy program. Under the program, farmers receive 30 instead of 15 tetri for 1 kg of non-standard (low-quality) tangerines.
September 2023 | Agri Review
29
September
2023
Rtveli 2023 commenced this August. Similar to previous years, the Government of Georgia (GoG) is subsidizing the grape harvest again to support farmers who have suffered from worsening climate conditions. Based on information from MEPA representatives, the subsidy's primary aim is to guarantee that even producers with lower-quality grapes can still sell their products.
