The FINANCIAL — National Statistics Office of Georgia published data of Construction Cost Index in Georgia (II Quarter 2020). The Construction Cost Index increased in 2020. Compared to the second quarter of last year the Construction Cost Index increased by 2.1 percent. The latter was largely caused by the increase in the prices for construction materials. This contributed points to the annual index change.
In the second quarter of 2020 the Construction Cost Index (CCI) increased by 0.7 percent compared to the previous quarter. The change was mainly due to a 3.3 percent increase in the prices for construction materials, which contributed 1.91 percentage points to the total index change.
The following table shows the CCI for the second quarter of 2020, compared to the previous quarter and the corresponding quarter of the preceding year, as well as the contributions of cost categories to the total index.
Compared to the second quarter of 2019 the CCI increased by 2.1 percent. The latter was largely caused by the 6.8 percent increase in the prices for construction materials, which contributed 3.89 percentage points to the annual index change. Besides, in the same period the average monthly nominal wages of employees in the construction sector decreased by 8.4 percent, contributing -2.31 percentage points to the overall index change.
It is interesting to note that in the second quarter of 2018 the Construction Cost Index (CCI) increased by 4.3 percent compared to the previous quarter. This was mainly caused by a 13.9 percent increase in average monthly nominal salary of employees in business sector in construction, which resulted in a 3.53 percentage point contribution to the total index change. In the mentioned period prices increased by 1.3 percent for construction materials and by 0.5 percent for transportation, fuel and electricity.
Recently, National Statistics Office of Georgia published preliminary data of the External Merchandise Trade of Georgia in January-August 2020. the external merchandise trade (excluding non-declared trade) of Georgia amounted to USD 7 022.8 million, 16.7 percent lower to the same period of 2019. The exports equaled USD 2 071.4 million (14.7 percent lower), while the imports stood at USD 4 951.4 million (17.5 percent lower). The negative trade balance was USD 2 880.0 million in January-August 2020 and its share in external trade turnover constituted 41.0 percent.
Also, the National Statistics Office of Georgia has published data of domestic tourism statistics in Georgia (II Quarter 2020). In the II quarter of 2020 the monthly average number of Georgian resident visitors aged 15 years or more equal to 596.5 thousand, who made 675.7 thousand visits on the territory of Georgia. In comparison to the II quarter of the previous year, the number of visitors has decreased by 37.2 percent. Read more.
Producer price index for industrial products increased in Georgia
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