In the first two months of 2023, the share of Georgia’s exports to the European Union states in the total exports of the Caucasian country fell by almost half — to 12.6% compared to the same period last year (20.9%).
At the same time, the share of exports to the CIS countries reached 58% of total exports. This is reported by the National Statistics Service (NSS) under the Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia.
According to the NSS, in January and February Georgia exported products worth $532 million to the CIS countries. This is $202 million more than in the same period last year. At the same time, Georgia exported $115.8 million worth of products to EU countries over the same period. Whereas in the first two months of 2022 — by $159 million.
The same government agency reports that one of the main items of Georgian exports — wine — has become even more dependent on the Russian market: the share of the Russian Federation increased to 69.2% in the first two months of 2023, while in January and February 2022 it was 60.4%. In January and February of this year, $23.88 million worth of wine was exported to Russia. To Ukraine (it is in second place) — by 1.75 million, to Poland (third place) — by $ 1.72 million.
In general, as the NSS informs, the year 2022 turned out to be one of the most successful in economic terms in the entire recent history of Georgia. Its economy grew by 10.1%.
The improvement of the economic situation in Georgia allowed Fitch to raise the country’s credit rating.