Rapid Estimates of Economic Growth, February 2015

The estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate amounted to 4.9 percent year-on-year in February 2015. The estimated real GDP average growth reached 2.7 percent for January-February 2015 y-o-y Geostat produces monthly rapid estimations of real GDP growth using administrative data on VAT taxpayers’ turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics. The compilation of rapid estimates is an internationally adopted practice to obtain preliminary monthly growth of real GDP. For those sectors, where preliminary monthly data do not exist (e.g. agriculture, non-observed economy etc.), the estimations are based on the data for previous periods. Therefore, the actual quarterly real GDP growth may differ from monthly rapid estimates. Furthermore, the data on VAT taxpayers’ turnover for the previous months might be updated on a monthly basis, implying corresponding adjustments of real GDP growth estimates. (Geostat.ge)