Baku, Azerbaijan, September 19
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The external merchandise trade (excluding non-declared trade) of Georgia amounted to $8.12 billion in January-August 2019, 0.01 percent higher year-on-year, Trend reports via the Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat).
The exports equaled $2.41 billion (12.4 percent higher), while the imports stood at $5.71 billion (4.4 percent lower).
The negative trade balance was $3.30 billion in January-August 2019 and its share in external trade turnover constituted 40.6 percent. The exports excluding re-exports amounted to $1.49 billion, 2.4 percent higher year-on-year.
In January-August 2019 the exports from Georgia to the EU countries amounted to $571.1 million (25.3 percent higher compared to January-August 2018) and constituted 23.7 percent of total exports, while the imports amounted to $1.47 million (11.6 percent lower) with 25.9 percent in total imports.
The external trade turnover of Georgia with the EU countries amounted to $2.05 billion, showing a 3.7 percent decrease compared to the corresponding indicator of the previous year. The EU countries accounted for 27.5 percent of the trade deficit.
In January-August 2019 the exports to the CIS countries stood at $1.27 billion (24.2 percent higher compared to January-August 2018) and reached 52.8 percent of total exports, while the imports equaled $1.49 billion (14.7 percent lower) with 26.1 percent in total import.
The trade turnover with the CIS countries totaled $2.76 billion (0.3 percent lower). The CIS countries accounted for 6.7 percent of the overall trade deficit in the corresponding period.