ISET-PI’s forecast of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2017 has not changed and stands at 4.7%. The first estimate of the third quarter growth forecast is at 7.4%. The real GDP growth rate reached 5.1% year-on-year for April 2019. Consequently, the estimated real GDP for the first four months of 2019 amounted to 4.8%.

On March 20, 2019, Pati Mamardashvili presented at the meeting of the Agricultural Innovation Committee of the Georgian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The meeting was attended by members of the academy, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.

Georgia’s food & agricultural exports almost hit their 1 billion USD threshold, attaining a historic maximum since independence – and that certainly sounds like something to celebrate! However, the respective imports have also increased and broken records. As a result, the trade balance (the difference between export and import) remained virtually unchanged at (-394) million USD.

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%.

Back in 2015 Georgian sheep market got into the spotlight due to the increased demand for sheep from Arabic countries. Prior to 2015, Azerbaijan was the most important export destination for live sheep, while in 2015, in addition to Azerbaijan, Georgian sheep was exported to United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.