According to the last four years’ data, Georgia has a chronic electricity deficit in ten months out of twelve, with the country showing an electricity surplus only in May and June (and, occasionally, in April and/or July). Despite the COVID-19 crisis dampening electricity demand in the country, 2020 was no exception. After two months – May and June – characterized by a positive generation-consumption gap, starting from July 2020 Georgia has been generating less electricity than required to cover consumption.

The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns about the food security of many countries, in particular import-dependent developing countries like Georgia. Trade restrictions imposed by Georgia’s trade partners tightened the supply of some cereals and vegetables, signalling the risk of an increase in food prices.

ISET Policy Institute likes to keep our tradition alive and cook up a New Year’s Supra Index for our readers every year. The Index shows the cost of a standard festive “supra” meal for a family of five or six people in each region of Georgia. Traditional dishes included in our calculations are: mtsvadi (grilled cubes of meat), satsivi (chicken in walnut sauce), khachapuri, trout, (pan-fried) chicken tabaka, salad Olivie, pkhali (chopped and minced vegetables with walnut), cucumber and tomato salad, and for dessert, fruit and gozinaki (caramelized walnuts fried in honey). The price of the New Year’s supra, of course, depends on the variety of dishes served for the feast.

The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent stringent lockdown measures have had a drastic toll on the Georgian economy. The economic downturn has significantly affected the resilience of local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), whose sales decreased by almost 13% (YoY) in the first two quarters of 2020. These negative impacts of the economic contraction have been particularly severe for Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs).

Education in Georgia is essentially the responsibility of the public sector (the vast majority of total enrolment in the case of General education) and has received a lot of attention in recent years with public outlays to the sector tripling between 2010 and 2019 to reach 3.6 percent of GDP. This remains low by OECD standards, however: OECD countries spend on average a little under 5% of their GDP on education.