The FINANCIAL — National Statistics Office of Georgia published data of Foreign Direct Investments Q2. Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Georgia amounted to USD 237.8 million in Q2 2020 (preliminary data), up 0.5 percent from the adjusted data of Q2 2019. The top three countries that invested the most in the second quarter of 2020 were United Kingdom, Netherlands and Turkey.
Foreign direct investment in Georgia reached USD 237.8 million in the second quarter of 2020, over 38% increase compared to USD 171.8 mln in the first quarter of 2020. The amount of the FDI in Q2 2020 is 0,5% up compared with the same period last year, however, the sum of the FDI during the first two quarters of 2020 saw over 25% decrease as compared to Q1+Q2 in 2019. As for the sectors, the largest share of FDI was registered in the financial sector, reaching USD 78.1 million in Q2 2020, the energy sector was the second with USD 29.6 million, followed by the construction sector with USD 27.7 million, as reported by civil.ge
The top three countries that invested the most in the second quarter of 2020 were United Kingdom (24.8 percent); Netherlands (22.4 percent) and Turkey (13.3 percent). The share of the three largest investor countries in the total volume of foreign direct investments reached 57 per cent in Q2 2020, according to agenda.ge
The increased rate of foreign direct investment in the second quarter once again proves the fact that despite the pandemic, the Georgian economy is gradually recovering, – Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natia Turnava made this statement during assessing the second quarter foreign direct investment indicators by Geostat. As Natia Turnava notes, the positive dynamics is taking place against the background of the global pandemic and at a time when international experts predict a 40% drop in investment globally, Georgian Public Broadcasting wrote.
Recently, National Statistics Office of Georgia also published data of indicators of the economic activity of the population (employment and unemployment). In the II quarter of 2020 the unemployment rate in Georgia increased by 0.9 percentage point compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and equaled 12.3 percent.
In the II quarter of 2020 economically active population constituted 63.7 percent of the working age population (population aged 15 and older). The economic activity rate compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, in urban settlements as well as in rural ones, remained the same. The employment rate on the country level decreased by 0.5 percentage point. In urban settlements, the employment rate was decreased by 1.3 percentage point, while in rural settlements it was increased by 0.2 percentage point.
Q2 share of hired employees was 48.6 percent among employed persons that decreased by 1.6 percentage point compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The chart below presents the distribution of employed by status in employment for 2018-2020 years.
It is also noteworthy that Geostat has published data of Inflation rate in Georgia (August 2020). The Consumer Price Index decreased 0.02 percent compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 4.8 percent. With regard to the annual core inflation, the prices increased by 5.7 percent, while the annual core inflation without tobacco2 amounted to 5.2 percent. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages have decreased in Georgia month-on-month by 0.5 percent. Read more.
July 2020 Producer Price Index for Industrial Products in Georgia
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