Recently, Geostat published the preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2017, which now stands at 4.7%. This is 0.7 percentage points above the previously estimated average growth rate for Q2. As a result, the real GDP growth for the first half of 2017 reached 4.9%.

The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in August 2017 was 3.08 GEL, 3.9% higher in a month-on-month comparison (m/m, that is, compared to the previous month) and 9.2% in a year-on-year comparison (y/y, that is, compared to the same month of last year).

On an annual basis, the biggest price increases occurred for apples (87%), potatoes (46%), and carrots (42%), whereas cucumbers, peaches, and tomatoes, on the contrary, became cheaper by 25%, 20%, and 14%, respectively.

According to the preliminary statistics released by GeoStat, Georgia’s real GDP growth was 4% year over year (YoY) in Q2 2017, which fell short of the 5.8% that had been expected by the ISET-PI GDP forecast made in July. This shortfall was driven not by weak performance, but overly optimistic predictions of ISET-PI’s empirical model, influenced by high actual growth in the first quarter (5.1% YoY).

In August 2017, Georgian power plants generated 1,035 mln. kWh of electricity. This corresponds to an 8% increase in total generation in comparison with the previous year (in 2016, total generation in August was 957 mln. kWh). Generation decreased by 17% with respect to July 2017 (in July 2017 total generation was 1,247 mln. kWh).