The Khachapuri Index reached a new historical high in February 2020. The Index continued its upward trend, reaching an average cost of 4.35 lari in February 2020. This is 1.3% higher than in January 2020 (m/m) and 22.9% higher when compared to February 2019 (y/y). The main contributors to the Khachapuri Index’s inflation since last year were cheese (36.5%) and flour (10.7%). Furthermore, as shown in the chart, the year-on-year price of all khachapuri ingredients—milk (3.7%), butter (2.5%), eggs (6.6%), and yeast (8%)—rose compared to February 2019.

GeoStat has published its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2019. Their estimated growth stands at 5.3%, which is 0.7 percentage points above ISET-PI’s most recent forecast. The annual real GDP growth for 2019 amounted to 5.2%. The real GDP growth rate reached 5.1% year-on-year for January 2020.

In January 2020, Georgian power plants generated 1,031 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 2% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in January 2019, the total generation was 1,011 mln. kWh). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from the increase of 37% in thermal and 36% in wind power generation, more than offsetting the decrease in hydro power generation (-22%).

A nationally representative sample of around 350 Georgians, interviewed in early January 2020, reveals that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) remained nearly the same, deteriorating by 0.4 index points (from -20 in December to -20.4 in January). Yet, as we observed in December 2019, Georgian Consumer Confidence improved by 1.8 index points.

In the first quarter of 2020, BCI increased by 7.3 index points reaching 25.8. Business confidence improved across all sectors with the exception of the service industry. The largest growth was observed in agriculture, followed by the manufacturing industry. In both sectors, the increase in BCI was driven by improved past performance as well as more optimistic future expectations.