On 8 May 2015, at the extraordinary session of the Parliament of Georgia, the Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili, declared: "Foreign direct investments equalled USD 1,272 million in the previous year which is 35% more as compared to 2013. This is the highest number since 2007. Reinvestments constituted 21% of the total foreign direct investments in Georgia in 2014."

took interest in the Prime Minister’s statement and analysed the statistics of the inflow of foreign direct investments to Georgia.

According to the preliminary data of the National Statistics Office of Georgia, the volume of foreign direct investments to Georgia in 2014 was USD 1,272 million. This number exceeds the final number of 2013 by 35%.

According to the statistical data of 2007-2014, the amount of foreign direct investments coming to Georgia in 2014 was indeed high. However, it is not the highest number registered since 2007. In 2008, the number of foreign direct investments equalled USD 1,564 million which is 23% more as compared to that of 2014. The lowest amount of foreign direct investments coming to Georgia was registered in 2009. In regard to the investment growth rate, the highest growth rate of foreign direct investments in the period of 2008-2014 was registered in 2011 (37%).

 Amount of Foreign Direct Investments (2007-2014)

It must be noted that in order to identify the differences in the real amounts of investments, the investments-to-GDP ratio must be taken into account. Generally, if a country’s GDP is higher, then it needs a higher amount of investments to ensure the high economic growth rate. Georgia’s GDP was USD 16,528 million in 2014 whilst the amount of investments equalled USD 1,272 million. Therefore, the country’s foreign direct investments-to-GDP ratio was 7.7% in 2014. The same number was registered in 2011 as well. This indicator was much higher in 2007-2008.

 Foreign Direct Investments-to-GDP Ratio (%)

In regard to the reinvesting of foreign direct investments in Georgia, the amount of reinvested money constituted 21% of the total number of foreign direct investments. That number was also much higher in previous years.

 Reinvestment of Foreign Direct Investments (2010-2014)

According to the preliminary data, the number of foreign direct investments in 2014 rose by 35% as compared to the previous year and reached USD 1,272 million, as claimed by the Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili. However, the Prime Minister’s statement is not accurate when he stated that this is the highest number registered since 2007. In 2008, the amount of foreign direct investments in Georgia was USD 1,564 million. In regard to the investment growth rate since 2007, the highest rate was registered in 2011 (37%).

It must be noted that since 2007, the highest foreign direct investments-to-GDP ratio (12.8%) was registered in 2008. In 2014, the foreign direct investments-to-GDP ratio was 7.7%. The same number was registered in 2011 as well.

The Prime Minister has also made an emphasis upon the share of reinvestment in 2014. The share of reinvestment in the total number of foreign direct investments made to Georgia was indeed 21% in the last year. However, this number was much higher in 2010, 2011 and 2013.