In January 2021, the average price of cooking one Imeretian khachapuri stood at 4.84 GEL. Compared to the previous month (December 2020) the Khachapuri Index lost 3.5%. In annual terms (compared to January 2020), however, the index added 12.6%. As shown in the chart, all khachapuri ingredients except eggs contributed to the yearly inflation of the Khachapuri Index. The price of only one ingredient – eggs – decreased by 1.9% compared to the previous year (January 2020).

On the 25th of January, the Agricultural Policy Research Center attended a hearing of the draft law on agritourism by the sectoral committee of the Parliament of Georgia, during which our research team presented the findings of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the draft law and discussed the associated socio-economic benefits and costs.

The real GDP growth rate amounted to -7.7% year-on-year for November 2020. Consequently, the estimated real GDP for the first eleven months of 2020 was -5.9%. Recently, Geostat has released its preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the third quarter of 2020. The Q3 growth rate was -5.6% (down by 0.5 ppt relative to the forecast).

In December 2020, Georgian power plants generated 930 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents an 8% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (December 2019, the total generation was 1,012 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease of 19% in hydro power generation, offsetting the 4% annual increases in thermal and wind power generation each.

The pandemic has taken an enormous toll on human lives and health globally. It has severely impacted the socio-economic state of millions of households, bringing immeasurable human tragedy, paralysis of social connectivity, economic crisis, and, to a certain extent, culture shock.