BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Vehicles of $522.5 million were re-exported from Georgia during 10 months of 2019, which is 63 percent more comparing to 2018, Trend reports referring to the Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat).
As a result of this growth, vehicles came in second in the whole export basket of Georgia, after copper ores, which are also primarily re-exported.
Geostat data shows that vehicles account for 17.2 percent of the country’s total exports.
According to Geostat, vehicles have been Georgia's leading export commodity until 2014.
From 2007 through 2013, the turnover of vehicles in Georgia rose 10 times from $70 million to $700 million.
Consequently, the number of car dealers increased and thousands of people became able to earn a living by exporting cars abroad.
At the end of 2014, demand for cars fell sharply due to the currency crisis in Georgia and the South Caucasus region. As a result, car dealers stockpiled cars that they could not sell.
The consequences of the crisis were mitigated in several years and since 2018, vehicles have become one of the largest export commodities of Georgia.
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