Georgia's Trade Deficit Reaches $9.33bn in Ten Months

Georgia's external merchandise trade reached $23.08bn in January to October 2026, with exports of $6.87bn and imports of $16.2bn, leaving a deficit of $9.33bn, according to the express release the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) published on 13 November. The figures are preliminary.

The ten-month data show the gap between imports and exports widening slightly again in October, after a strong year for exports.

The ten-month numbers

Exports (free on board) were $6,874.8m and imports (cost, insurance and freight) were $16,202.4m, Geostat said. The deficit of $9,327.5m was equal to 40.4% of turnover, on CBJ's arithmetic, against 40.1% in January to September. Exports covered 42.4% of imports, down from 42.8% over nine months.

In January to September, turnover was $20.53bn, up 9.2% on a year earlier, with exports up 19.6% to $6.15bn and imports up 5.3% to $14.38bn, Trend reported, citing Geostat. CBJ covered those figures in October. Subtracting the rounded nine-month totals from the ten-month totals suggests October brought about $0.72bn of exports and $1.82bn of imports, a monthly deficit of about $1.1bn. This is a CBJ estimate: Geostat often revises earlier months, so the October figures in its detailed tables may differ.

Context: who Georgia trades with

The express release gives only totals. The detail for January to September shows how concentrated the trade is. Kyrgyzstan ($650.2m), China ($583.1m) and Azerbaijan ($566.7m) were the largest export markets, while Türkiye ($2.19bn), China ($1.75bn) and the United States ($1.72bn) were the largest sources of imports, Georgia Today reported, citing Geostat. Passenger cars were the largest item on both sides: $1.53bn, or 24.9% of exports, and $2.65bn, or 18.4% of imports.

Analysis

The car figures explain much of the picture. Passenger cars lead both imports and exports, which reflects Georgia's role as a hub for vehicle re-exports, a pattern CBJ has reported before. That trade lifts both sides of the balance and makes headline export growth sensitive to demand in a few neighbouring markets. Precious metal ores and concentrates, worth $464m in the nine months according to Georgia Today, add exposure to commodity prices.

The deficit itself is not new. Georgia has long run a large goods deficit, financed by tourism, remittances and services exports. What matters for the lari and for growth is whether import growth keeps accelerating as domestic demand stays strong. The economy grew 7.4% in the first nine months, according to Geostat's estimate, and strong demand usually pulls in imports.

What to watch

• Geostat's detailed release for January to October, with year-on-year changes, partners and products.
• Whether car re-exports to Central Asia hold up in the last two months of the year.
• Revisions to the preliminary data when final figures are published.

Sources: National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), External Merchandise Trade, express release of 13 November 2026; Trend, October 2026; Georgia Today, 20 October 2026

Image: Caucasus Business Journal archive