A nationally representative sample of 359 Georgians, interviewed in early June 2019, reveals that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) improved by nearly 1 index point, from -16.5 in May to -15.9 in June. A similar pattern was observed in the Present Situation Index, which increased by 1.8 index points (from -19.5 to -17.7). The Expectations Index however remained unchanged at -13.6.

ISET-PI’s growth projections for the second and third quarters of 2019 were revised upward by less than 0.1 percentage points. They now stand at 4.8% and 7.5% respectively. Geostat has increased the estimate of the average real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2019 to 4.9% (by around 0.2 percentage points).

In June 2019, Georgian power plants generated 1,198 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 0.9% decrease in the total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, the total generation in June was 1,208 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in hydro power generation (-1%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (+141%) and wind power generation (+6%).

The average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian Khachapuri stood at 3.24 GEL in May 2019. This is 6.4% lower MoM (compared to April 2019), and 2.4% higher YoY (compared to May 2018).

The share of the rural population in the total population decreased slightly, from 42.6% in 2015 to 41.3% in the beginning of 2019. The share of agriculture in total GDP has also declined, from 9.1% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2018. While production figures have gone up, there was a 6.4% increase in agricultural production in 2018 compared to the previous year. Production in the plant-growing sector increased by 10.9%, and animal production experienced an increase of 2.1% compared to 2017.