On July 9 2015, a member of the Parliamentary Majority, Zurab Tkemaladze, stated that there is no single country in the world which has ever had a 10% or a 20% economic growth rate. The MP added that somewhat similar economic growth rates were only had by those countries which were attempting to "escape from the slums."
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of the statement.
Economic growth is expressed in the real growth of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Gross Domestic Product is the sum of the final value of the goods and services produced in a country during a one-year period. In 2014, Georgia’s GDP was USD 16.5 billion.
Graph 1:
GDP in Current Prices (USD billion) and GDP Real Growth Rate in 1997-2014
As illustrated by the graph, since 1997 Georgia has had more than a 10% GDP real growth rate on three occasions whilst in 2003-2007 its average economic growth rate was 9.7%.
Additionally, there is a great deal of examples where different countries have registered a 10% and even more GDP growth rate.
Table 1:
Countries with a 10-20% Economic Growth
| Year | List of Countries |
| 1990 | Singapore, Thailand, Iran, UAE, Nigeria |
| 1991 | South Korea, Argentina, Belize, Bahrain, Iran |
| 1992 | Argentina, Chile, Macao, China, Jordan |
| 1993 | Albania, Malaysia, Singapore, China |
| 1994 | Singapore, Morocco, Peru, China |
| 1995 | Chile, China, Albania |
| 1996 | China, Malaysia, Iraq, Angola, Morocco, Ethiopia |
| 1997 | Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Belarus, Estonia |
| 1998 | Azerbaijan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1999 | Ireland, South Korea, Albania, Botswana, Turkmenistan |
| 2000 | Russia, Azerbaijan, UAE |
| 2001 | Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan |
| 2002 | Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Rwanda |
| 2003 | China, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Libya, Armenia, Kuwait |
| 2004 | China, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Belarus, Ukraine |
| 2005 | Latvia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Libya, Armenia |
| 2006 | Venezuela, Belarus, Estonia, Macao, Kazakhstan, Latvia, China, Armenia |
| 2007 | Slovakia, Lithuania, Georgia, Armenia, China, Panama, India |
| 2008 | Belarus, Monaco, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Turkmenistan, Qatar |
| 2009 | Qatar, Liberia |
| 2010 | China, India, Singapore, Paraguay, Qatar, Ethiopia, Chad |
| 2011 | Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Panama, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Qatar |
| 2012 | Liberia, Panama, Zimbabwe, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Afghanistan |
| 2013 | Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Macao, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia |
| 2014* | Ethiopia, Turkmenistan (2014 data have not yet been fully published) |
Table 2:
Countries with a 20% or More Economic Growth
| Year | List of Countries |
| 1990 | Turkmenistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Santa Lucia |
| 1991 | Lebanon |
| 1992 | Iraq |
| 1993 | Papua New Guinea, Iraq, Kuwait |
| 1994 | Eritrea |
| 1995 | Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1996 | Equatorial Guinea, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1997 | Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1998 | Iraq, Liberia |
| 1999 | Liberia, Equatorial Guinea |
| 2000 | Liberia |
| 2001 | Liberia, Equatorial Guinea |
| 2002 | Sierra Leone, Liberia |
| 2003 | N/A |
| 2004 | Macao, Nigeria, Iraq, Equatorial Guinea |
| 2005 | Azerbaijan |
| 2006 | Azerbaijan, Qatar, Angola |
| 2007 | Azerbaijan, Angola |
| 2008 | N/A |
| 2009 | Afghanistan |
| 2010 | Macao |
| 2011 | Macao |
| 2012 | Libya |
| 2013 | Sierra Leone |
| 2014* | South Sudan (2014 data have not yet been fully published) |
We have to consider that economically developed countries normally do not have a 10% or more economic growth rate. Usually, economically developed countries have comparably low GDP growth rates. However, developing countries have the potential to achieve a high economic growth rate. FactCheck has already published an article
on this topic. Georgia belongs to the group of economically developing countries and it is relevant for it to aim for a 10% and more economic growth. Therefore, it is wrong to compare the economic growth rate registered in our country to those of Europe and other developed countries.
Conclusion
The most widely used instrument to assess economic growth is the GDP’s real growth rate. In the period of 1997-2014, Georgia registered a 10% and more economic growth rate on three occasions. It must be noted that the average economic growth rate in 2003-2007 was 9.7%.
There are numerous examples of countries which have had a 10% and a 20% economic growth rate. In the course of the last 34 years, the members of this group have been both contemporary developed economies (Singapore, Ireland, South Korea, Chile, etc.) and developing countries. Additionally, for FactCheck,the reason why Georgia "should not" have a 10% and more economic growth remains unclear.
FactCheck concludes that Zurab Tkemaladze’s statement is a LIE.
