Georgia is a net importer of all agricultural products, except for fruits. As for animal products, the local production of eggs and milk fully meet the local demand. Over the past several years, the production of meat and fruits has been increasing, while the production of annual crops (vegetables and cereals) has been relatively inconsistent.
Fruit production grew at 4.5% CAGR over 2016-22 to 642.6mn kg in 2022. The most produced fruits are grapes, peaches and apples. The produced grapes are mainly used as an input for production of wine and other alcoholic beverages, while peaches and apples are leading exported products. Fruit imports also show an increasing trend, doubling over 2016-2022 to US$ 91.8mn. The imports are increasing mainly for products that are unable to be produced in Georgia, such as bananas, avocados and other tropical fruits.
For fruit producers, diversifying export markets and tapping into higher-profit markets is highly important. The demand in EU countries is high for nuts, berries and peaches. These products have high growth potential in Georgia. Notably, there are various government support for the production of these products in Georgia.
Vegetable production volume in Georgia was at 331.1mn kg in 2022. The leading products are potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers. The exports of these vegetables are seasonal and during the off-season import volume is much higher, making Georgia a net importer of vegetables. The development of greenhouses with the consideration for seasonality and creating storage facilities for increasing the shelf-life of products is highly important for the subsectors of vegetable production.
Georgia is a net importer of cereals. In 2022, the consumption of cereals was at 1,000mn kg, of which 370.5mn kg was met by local production and the rest was covered by imports.
Agri business sector turnover was at GEL 915.5mn in 2022, which was only 0.7% of the total business sector turnover. Of the existing 2,700 companies operating in the sector, only 7 are large and 32 are medium, which signifies the growth potential of the sector. The potential for growth of businesses is high in all subsectors of agriculture on the basis of both replacing the share of households as well as enlargement of existing companies and creating new enterprises. The 50.7% of the sector turnover comes from animal meats and products, 16.7% from permanent crops, 12.5% from annual crops, 7.3% from aquaculture and the remaining 12.8% from support services.
