This quarterly report provides an analysis of economic trends, as well as denoting the challenges and opportunities (in local, regional, and global contexts) in selected value chains within six sectors to improve evidence-based decision-making by providing quality information and analytics. The specific sectors covered are tourism; creative industries; light manufacturing; shared intellectual services; solid waste management and recycling; and cross-cutting sectors. The analysis tracks trends from the third quarter of 2021.

As I am writing these lines, Russian tanks are moving deeper into the territory of my country, Ukraine, and emotions are threatening to overwhelm me. But emotions cannot shake what we, as economics scholars, value the most: devotion to truth and careful, impartial use of facts and logic to arrive at conclusions.

In February 2022, the cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri increased both annually and monthly, ranging between 5.7 GEL (Kutaisi) and 6.1 GEL (Tbilisi), with an average cost of 5.8 GEL. The latest average price is 28.8% higher than in February 2021. In month-to-month developments, the price of a khachapuri is 0.8% higher compared to the previous month January 2022.

In January 2022, Georgian power plants generated 1025 mln. kWh of electricity (Figure 1). This represents a 27% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in January 2021, the total generation was 808 mln. kWh). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from the increase of 11%, 49%, and 30% in hydropower, thermal, and wind power generation, respectively.

For the first quarter of 2022, business confidence in Georgia decreased (by 13.3 index points) and reached 17.3. The highest decrease in business confidence is observed in service (-25.8), manufacturing (-20.8), and wholesale and retail trade (-16.1) sectors.