Head of GeoStat: Manufacturing, financial services, and logistics drive 8% economic expansion in July

“Georgia’s economy grew by 8.0% year-on-year in July 2026 based on VAT returns declared by enterprises, bringing the average real growth rate for the first seven months of the year to 7.9%,” announced Gogita Todradze, Executive Director of the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat).

According to Todradze, key drivers of economic growth included manufacturing, information and communications, financial and insurance services, mining and quarrying, and transportation and storage.

“Conversely, a downward trend was recorded in the construction sector. In July 2026, exports of goods increased by approximately 30%, while imports grew by 5.8%. Nearly 7,000 new enterprises were registered last month. This marked a nearly 14% increase against the same period last year, driven predominantly by registrations of local individual entrepreneurs. The turnover of VAT-paying enterprises used in rapid GDP estimates rose by 12.6% to 17.7 billion GEL.

Looking at individual sectors, the expanding petroleum refining and metallurgy largely propelled growth in manufacturing. Within refined petroleum, output of naphtha, gas oil, and fuel oil expanded significantly. In metallurgy, production of pig iron, steel, and ferro-alloys saw marked increases,” Todradze noted.

He further highlighted that exports of refined petroleum products surged roughly 25-fold year-on-year in July 2026, headed primarily to several African nations and Singapore. Meanwhile, exports of ferrosilico-manganese grew approximately threefold, driven chiefly by shipments to the United States.

“In the information and communications sector, growth was driven mainly by software development, IT consultancy, and expanding related digital services. Financial and insurance growth stemmed from increased interest income among commercial banks, while mining expansion was linked to non-ferrous metal ore extraction. The transport and logistics sector benefited directly from positive foreign trade dynamics, boosting freight handling and warehousing volumes.

As noted, construction declined, primarily within civil engineering. Construction activity on roads, bridges, motorways, tunnels, and other infrastructure dropped compared to last year. Reflecting this shift, foreign trade data reveals a 13% decline in construction material imports and an approximate 19% drop in cement and clinker imports,” Todradze added.