Estimated real GDP in Georgia has declined by 0.7% in September
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, November 2
GEOSTAT has reported recently that compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the decline in real GDP in September was as much as 0.7%. According to the report, the average drop for the first nine months of 2020 was -5%. According to GEOSTAT, there is a downtrend in most sectors of the economy.
“In September 2020 the estimated real growth compared to the same period of the previous year was posted negative in Transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, Arts, entertainment and recreation, Construction, Professional, scientific and technical activities, Information and communication,” reads the statement of GEOSTAT.
GEOSTAT also reports that the increase was seen in other industries as well, manufacturing, mining, financial and insurance activities, and many others.
Unlike other months, the turnover of VAT-paying enterprises increased slightly by 3.2% year-on-year to GEL 7.6 billion in September. For comparison, from March to August, the turnover of VAT-paying enterprises was reduced on an annual basis.
The Finance Minister of Georgia Ivane Machavariani talked about the situation in the country and noted that this is a result of fiscal stimulus issued by the government of the country.
“This means that we have almost the same economic activities in September as we had last year. At the same time, we must keep in mind that according to various estimates, the share of tourism in our economy is about 9-11%, and we have lacked this data. Still, in practice, we are at last year’s level,” added the Finance Minister.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said at a news conference after the end of the Coordination Council, that the negative economic growth has been reduced to a minimum, citing the September economic growth rate released by GEOSTAT.
He said this is the result of the government working together with businesses, citizens, and epidemiologists during the first and second waves of coronavirus.
Geostat produces monthly rapid estimates of real GDP growth rate using administrative data on VAT taxpayers’ turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics. The compilation of rapid estimates is an internationally adopted practice to obtain a preliminary monthly growth rate of real GDP. For those sectors, where preliminary monthly data do not exist (e.g. agriculture. non-observed economy etc.), estimations are based on the data for previous periods.
The National Statistics Office of Georgia, the legal entity of public law, carries out its activities independently. It is an institution established to produce statistics and disseminate the statistical information according to the Georgian legislation. The National Statistics Office of Georgia is established by the Law of Georgia, 11 December 2009, on Official Statistics.
