In 2018, Georgian power plants generated 12 154 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 5% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation was 11 531 mln. kWh) (Figure 1). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from increase in hydropower (9%), more than offsetting the decrease in thermal (-5%) and wind power generation (-4%).

Geostat updated its preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the third quarter of 2018. The Q3 estimate was revised downward to 3.7% (0.3 percentage points lower than the previous estimate). The real GDP growth rate reached only 2.2% year-on-year for November 2018. Consequently, the estimated real GDP for the first eleven months of 2018 was revised downward to 4.7%.

The New Year is approaching, and every Georgian family is already preparing for this festive event. And so is the ISET-Policy Institute. We are keeping with our tradition and cooking up a special edition of the Khachapuri Index for our readers: a “New Year’s Supra Index”. This Index shows the cost (in GEL) of a standard supra meal for a family of 5-6 people in each of Georgia’s regions.

On April 3, 2015 the Government of Georgia adopted a technical regulation in the dairy sector in order to define major principles for the production, processing, and distribution of dairy products. Later in 2017, the regulation was amended and the law now strictly regulates the labelling of dairy products and particularly the use of terms such as “cheese” and “butter”.

In December 2018, Georgian power plants generated 986 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 9% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in December was 1080 mln. kWh. The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from decrease in thermal power (-30%), more than offsetting the increase in hydro (+3%) and wind power generation (+11%).