Economy - overview:
Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of
agricultural products such as citrus fruits, tea, hazelnuts, and
grapes; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small
industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages,
metals, machinery, and chemicals. The country imports the bulk of
its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. Its only
sizable internal energy resource is hydropower. Despite the severe
damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with
the help of the IMF and World Bank, has made substantial economic
gains since 1995, achieving positive GDP growth and curtailing
inflation. However, the Georgian Government suffers from limited
resources due to a chronic failure to collect tax revenues. Georgia
also suffers from energy shortages; it privatized the T'bilisi
distribution network in 1998, but collection rates are low, making
the venture unprofitable. The country is pinning its hopes for
long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and
trade. The start of construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline and the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline will bring
much-needed investment and job opportunities.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $16.05 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.4% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,200 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 20%
industry: 25%
services: 55% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
54% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 27.9% (1996)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37.1 (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.2% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
2.1 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
industry 20%, agriculture 40%, services 40% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
17% (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $499 million
expenditures: $554 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining
(manganese and copper), chemicals, wood products, wine
Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2000)
Electricity - production:
7.27 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 19.7%
hydro: 80.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
7.611 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
850 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
2,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
31,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Natural gas - production:
60 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.16 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
1.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products:
citrus, grapes, tea, hazlenuts, vegetables; livestock
Exports:
$515 million (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports; citrus fruits,
tea, wine
Exports - partners:
Turkey 23%, Italy 12.1%, Russia 11.4%, Greece 8.5%, Netherlands
7.5%, Spain 5.9%, Turkmenistan 4.7%, Ukraine 4.3% (2002)
Imports:
$750 million (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other
foods, pharmaceuticals
Imports - partners:
Turkey 15.6%, Azerbaijan 11.2%, US 9.9%, Russia 9.1%, Germany 7.2%,
Italy 5.1%, Bulgaria 4.9%, Romania 4.3%, France 4.2%, Ukraine 4.1%
(2002)
Debt - external:
$1.7 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA $150 million (2000 est.)
Currency:
lari (GEL)
Currency code:
GEL
Exchange rates:
lari per US dollar - 2.2 (2002), 2.07 (2001), 1.98 (2000), 2.02
(1999), 1.39 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year