After quite a number of declines food prices started to increase in the beginning of October signaling the end of fresh fruits and vegetables’ season. Retail FPI for the 2nd week of October is 5% higher compared to the last week of September. Increase in prices is driven mostly by the increase in price of vegetables and fruits. Plum became 35.4% more expensive in October, eggplants’ price increased by 21.4% and apples gained in price 17%.
This week we use the Khachapuri Index to look at Georgia’s broader economic geography. We do so on the basis of price data for more than 100 products from each and every Georgian municipality, which were collected by the Georgian government with assistance from ISET and EU’s European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD).
The cost of cooking one standard portion of khachapuri fell to 3.46 GEL in September 2015, thus departing from the seasonal upward sloping trend. Compared to the previous month (August 2015) the Index declined by 0.9%, however in yearly terms (compared to September 2014, the Index gained 3.2%.
The Georgian wine industry had a couple of very good years in 2013 and 2014, following the opening of the Russian market. Exports skyrocketed, prices of grapes followed suit. For all the talk about diversification, within just two years, Russia’s share in the total exports of Georgian wine shot up from 0 to almost 68%.
Food prices in the largest supermarkets of Georgia have been on decline over the last couple of months. Prices started adjusting downwards in July 2015 and the trend persisted in September. According to ISET Policy Institute’s Retail Food Price Index (Retail FPI) in September 2015, prices were 1% lower compared to August 2015.