During the meeting of the Cabinet on 13 June 2016, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, stated: "Foreign direct investments (FDI) showed an unprecedented growth in the first quarter of 2016. We have reached record high numbers since 2008 – USD 376 million."

of the National Statistics Office of Georgia, the amount of foreign direct investments in Georgia reached USD 376 million in the first quarter of 2016 which is 103% more than in the same period of the previous year.

Investment data must be compared with the data of the same periods of the previous years in order to make a proper analysis. Hence, we compared the data of the first quarters from 2008 to 2016 in order to determine whether or not the amount of foreign direct investments in the first quarter of 2016 is truly unprecedented (see Chart 1).

A look at the data for the first quarters from 2009 to 2016 indicates that the largest amount of foreign direct investments did indeed enter Georgia in 2016. In addition, the largest growth rate of investments was also recorded in 2016.

 Foreign Direct Investments from 2008 to 2016 (First Quarters)

It should be pointed out that the largest share of investments in the first quarter of 2016 was recorded in the fields of transport and telecommunications, equalling USD 200 million which is 53% of the overall FDI share. The financial sector came second with 15% whilst the energy sector was third with 11%.

The largest amount of money invested in Georgia in the first quarter of 2016 came from Azerbaijan. Turkey and the United Kingdom hold the second and the third places, respectively, in the list of Georgia’s large investor countries.

A total of USD 376 million in foreign direct investments entered Georgia in the first quarter of 2016 which is 103% more than in the same period of the previous year. The largest amount of FDI in the first quarter of the year since 2008 was recorded in 2016. The highest growth rate of investments was also observed in 2016.