GeoStat Director: Georgia registered 6.3% economic growth in August, bringing the eight-month average real growth to 7.6%

“Preliminary GDP estimates for August 2026, based on declarations from VAT-registered enterprises, indicate that the Georgian economy expanded by 6.3 per cent year-on-year. Consequently, average real economic growth for the first eight months of the year stands at 7.6 per cent,” Gogita Todradze, Executive Director of the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat), announced.

According to Todradze, key drivers of year-on-year expansion included manufacturing, information and communication, financial and insurance services, real estate, trade, transport and logistics.

“Furthermore, external trade data reveals that exports surged by approximately 24.7 per cent, while imports increased by 4.3 per cent. New business registrations in Georgia surged 35 per cent year-on-year in August to nearly 6,300, spurred chiefly by an uptick in local individual entrepreneurs.

Notably, turnover among VAT-registered businesses, the primary baseline metric for rapid GDP estimates, rose by 12 per cent, exceeding GEL 16.85 billion,” Todradze stated.

Detailing specific industry performance, Todradze explained that manufacturing growth was largely propelled by expanded production of refined petroleum products.

“We recorded notable output gains in fuel oil, naphtha, and gas oil. Exports of petroleum products jumped roughly 11-fold year-on-year in August, routed predominantly to Singapore, Ivory Coast, China, and the United States.

Software development and scaling IT services propelled expansion in the ICT sector, while the financial and insurance industry benefited from increased net interest income among commercial lenders.

Land transactions and increased lease activity for non-residential commercial space anchored real estate growth. The trade sector expanded on the back of higher wholesale and retail volumes in petroleum products, alongside strong turnover in food, beverages, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals,” Todradze noted.

Turning to transport and storage, the Geostat chief highlighted positive momentum linked directly to surging foreign trade.

The expansion in external trade, particularly on the export side, corresponded with a parallel rise in freight handling, cargo processing, and warehousing services,” he explained.

Conversely, the construction sector contracted.

“This downturn was primarily concentrated in civil engineering. Year-on-year declines were observed in the construction of roads, bridges, motorways, and tunnels. Reflecting this slowdown, imports of construction materials dropped by approximately 12 per cent, while imports of cement and clinker fell by 25 per cent,” the GeoStat chief concluded.