On 8 May 2015, during his speech at the Parliament of Georgia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, stated: "The trends of the past two years indicate that the European Union is our main market; that it has to become the main market for our goods. Exports to the European Union increased by 65% during the first year. There was growth in the second year as well. We already have a 21% growth in the first quarter of this year. This shows that the Government of Georgia is working on the diversification of markets… we have growth in China as well."
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of this statement.
According to the information of the National Statistics Office of Georgia, the overall exports from Georgia amounted to USD 502.9 million in the first quarter of this year. It amounted to USD 695.8 million in the first quarter of 2014. Hence, exports decreased by 28% in the first quarter of 2015.
Table 1:
Amount of Exports (USD million) and Change in % from 2004 to 2014
| Year | Overall Exports | CIS Members | EU Member States | China | ||||
| 2004 | 646.9 | 40% | 327.6 | 45% | 128.2 | 54% | 3.3 | 182% |
| 2005 | 865.5 | 34% | 407.2 | 24% | 216.8 | 69% | 5.6 | 69% |
| 2006 | 936.4 | 8% | 391.1 | -4% | 225.4 | 4% | 10.4 | 84% |
| 2007 | 1 232.1 | 32% | 461.9 | 18% | 268.5 | 19% | 8.3 | -2% |
| 2008 | 1 495.3 | 21% | 540.9 | 17% | 335.2 | 25% | 8.9 | 9% |
| 2009 | 1 133.6 | -24% | 416.2 | -23% | 237.7 | -29% | 6.0 | -34% |
| 2010 | 1 677.5 | 47% | 676.7 | 62% | 309.6 | 30% | 26.8 | 349% |
| 2011 | 2 189.1 | 30% | 1 052.7 | 55% | 424.3 | 37% | 28.9 | 8% |
| 2012 | 2 375.4 | 9% | 1 244.1 | 18% | 353.0 | -16% | 25.6 | -11% |
| 2013 | 2 908.5 | 25% | 1 620.9 | 30% | 607.9 | 72% | 33.9 | 32% |
| 2014 | 2 861.2 | -1.6% | 1 465.5 | -9% | 620.8 | 2% | 90.4 | 166% |
As the chart above indicates, from 2004 to 2014 exports decreased only in 2009 and 2014.
If we look at the data of exports in 2013 and 2014 it is evident that about 21% of exports went to the European Union and about 54% to the Commonwealth of Independent States whilst exports to China amounted to just 2%. According to the data of 2011 and 2012, a total of 17% was exported to the European Union, 54% to the Commonwealth of Independent States and 1.2% to China. Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Ukraine and the USA are among the top destinations of Georgian exports to date.
The value of production exported from Georgia to the European Union increased by 72% in 2013 as compared to the previous year and amounted to USD 607.9 million. There was only a 2% increase in 2014. As for the data of the first quarter of 2015, they show a 21% (USD 170 million) increase as compared to the same period of the previous year. Of this, the biggest growth of exports was observed to Germany (59%), the UK (91%), Italy (55%), the Netherlands (260%) and Bulgaria (19%).
The majority of the production exported from Georgia still goes to the Commonwealth of Independent States. There was a 9% decrease in exports from Georgia to the CIS in 2014. According to the data of the first three months of 2015, we have a 55% decline. Exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States decreased by USD 216.4 million.
As for the Chinese market, products worth USD 10 million were exported to China in the first quarter of 2014 which gave a 166% growth of exports to China, amounting to USD 90.4 million. There was a 145% growth in the same period of 2015.
It should be pointed out that according to the information published on 22 May 2015, exports from Georgia decreased by 26% (USD 243 million) from January to April 2015 as compared to the same period of the previous year. Export to the European Union decreased by 32% in April 2015 as compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to USD 36.3 million. According to the data of the first four months of 2015, the growth of exports to the European Union amounted to 6.2%.
Exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States decreased by USD 44 million, to Azerbaijan by USD 17 million, to Russia by USD 7 million and to Ukraine by USD 6 million.
Conclusion
According to the data of the National Statistics Office of Georgia, exports from Georgia to the European Union increased by 72% in 2013 and by just 2% in 2014. Exports increased by 21% in the first quarter of 2015 whilst exports to the European Union decreased by 32% in April 2015 as compared to the same period of the previous year.
About 21% of exported goods went to the European Union in 2013 and 2014 whilst in 2011 and 2012 this number was equal to 17%. Based upon these data we can say that the share of exports from Georgia to the European Union has increased in the past two years; however, the growth rate in percentage has decreased. The growth rate of exports decreased by 1.6% in 2014 whilst according to the data of the first quarter of 2015, there is a 28% decrease. In addition, despite the fact that we have a 21% growth of exports to the European Union in the first quarter of 2015, exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States decreased by 55%.
As for China, there was indeed a very high – 166% growth of exports from Georgia to China. This is the highest growth rate since the 349% growth of exports to China in 2010.
FactCheck concludes that Irakli Gharibashvili’s statement is HALF TRUE.
