For the first quarter of 2024, business confidence in Georgia decreased slightly (by 0.4 index points) and reached 17.7. The highest decrease in business confidence is observed in the trade (-15.1) sector. The negative change in BCI for Q1 2024 was driven by decreased past performance as well as less optimistic expectations.

A slight trend reversal in the CCI. After a rise in the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in December, January saw a small decline – from -14.1 in December to -15.5 in January, dropping by 1.4 index points. This fall is evident in both sub-indices – the Present Situation Index declined by 0.9 points and the Expectations Index by 2 points.

Geostat has released its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for November 2023. The estimated growth stands at 5.9%, while the average real GDP growth for January-November 2023 reached 6.9%.

In January 2024, the average monthly cost of preparing one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri increased, ranging between 6.40 GEL (Batumi) and 7.11 GEL (Tbilisi), with an overall average cost of 6.62 GEL. This recent average indicates a 2% increase compared to the preceding month of December 2023. While examining year-to-year trends, the current price of khachapuri is 4.6% lower than in January 2023.

CCI sees improvement. The Consumer Confidence Index has experienced a significant positive shift, increasing by 6 index points – from -20.1 in November to -14.1 in December. Both the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index contributed to this notable increase; however, the predominant factor was the rise in expectations (the Present Situation Index rose by 4.7 points and the Expectations Index by 7.4).