On 15 June 2021, the National Statistics Office of Georgia published its annual publication for the agricultural sector - Agriculture of Georgia 2020. According to the publication, agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 8.4% of GDP in 2020, higher than the 7.2% share in 2019, but in line with the general trend over the last five years (agricultural GDP comprising on average 7-8% of GDP).

Hazelnuts are one of Georgia’s top ten export commodities. During 2010-2020, hazelnuts accounted for around 4.4% of Georgia’s total exports (GeoStat, 2021). In 2013, the quantity of exported hazelnuts hit its maximum level at 30 ths tons, then decreased to 19 ths tons in the following years with an increase in the value indicating higher prices per exported kg of Georgian hazelnuts. In 2016, the quantity of exported hazelnuts amounted to 27 ths tons, which was the second highest indicator in the observed years (2010-2020) (Figure 1).

Under ISET affiliation Luc Leruth, the Lead Economist in the Policy Institute’s Governance and Social Policy Research Center, has recently been appointed a co-editor of The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal Economics. As a new form of the academic journal, the publication incorporates a large research community with an open and innovative peer review process; where critically the research is seen as a cooperative enterprise between authors, editors, referees, and readers.

ISET is proud to announce its most recent joint research presentation into our impact assessment on domestic work and its influences on female economic empowerment in Georgia. Supported and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Austrian Development Cooperation, and hosted by UN Women, the presentation aimed to highlight women’s labor rights and access to reasonable work.

After a decline in January 2021 compared to December 2020, the Tbilisi Residential Sales Price Index (SPI) showed an upward trend in Q1 2021, increasing from 110.7 index points in January 2021 to 113.5 index points in March 2021 (the index is equal to 100 in the base period, January 2019).