
In 2025, President Donald Trump reintroduced a sweeping tariff policy as a central element of his economic agenda. Framed as a “universal baseline tariff,” the new measures impose a 10% duty on all imports and introduce even higher reciprocal tariffs on countries with large trade surpluses with the United States. These policies mark a continuation and an escalation of Trump’s earlier protectionist approach during his first term.

The Polarization Index fluctuated significantly throughout April, peaking in response to several contentious events: Kavelashvili signed laws on the registration of foreign agents and restrictions on the media; Georgian Dream announced a ban on issuing foreign grants without government approval; Davit Doiashvili was dismissed from his position as Artistic Director of the New Theatre; and searches were conducted in the homes of founders of charitable organizations.

In April 2025, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri stood at 6.62 GEL, marking a 6.1% increase compared to April 2024. However, on a monthly basis, the price fell by 4.4% compared to March 2025.

On April 28, 2025, the ISET hosted a special seminar featuring the presentation of the World Bank’s latest report, “Navigating Fiscal Realities for Equitable Growth in Georgia,” developed with support from the Kingdom of Sweden.

For the second quarter of 2025, business confidence in Georgia increased (by 3.6 index points) and reached -1.3. The highest increase in business confidence is observed in the manufacturing (+10.0) sector. The positive change in BCI for Q2 2025 was driven by optimistic expectations as well as slightly increased past performance.