International visitors at 6.5mn in 2024
In 4Q24, international visitors to Georgia increased by 4.6% y/y to 1.4mn persons. This growth was mainly driven by a 9.0% y/y increase in tourist arrivals, which accounted for 78.9% of total arrivals. Meanwhile, same-day arrivals fell by 9.2% y/y in the same period. Russia was the top source country by international arrivals (22.0% of total) in 4Q24, followed by Türkiye (19.6% of total) and Armenia (15.3% of total). Notably, most visitors traveled to Georgia via land (59.1% of total), followed by air (40.2% of total). Overall, 6.5mn international visitors traveled to Georgia in 2024, with 5.1mn of them being tourist arrivals, slightly surpassing the 2019 level by 0.2%. Same-day arrivals totaled 1.4mn, recovering to 51.6% of the 2019 figure. Based on our estimate, tourism revenues reached US$ 4.4bn in 2024, up from US$ 4.1bn recorded in 2023.
Goods exports at US$ 6.6bn in 2024
In Dec-24, goods exports increased by 6.8% y/y to US$ 549.4mn, after a 12.6% y/y growth in previous month. Goods imports rose by 20.5% y/y to US$ 1.7bn, following a 14.2% growth y/y in previous month. Consequently, the trade deficit increased by 28.8% y/y to US$ 1.1bn in Dec-24. Overall in 2024, the trade deficit rose by 8.3% y/y to US$ 10.3bn, driven by a 7.8% y/y increase in exports, which reached a record high of US$ 6.6bn, while imports grew by 8.1% y/y, totaling a record US$ 16.9bn.
Money transfers at US$ 3.4bn in 2024
Money transfers decreased by 8.2% y/y to US$ 285.4mn in Dec-24, after a 9.6% y/y decline in previous month. Among the top countries, money transfers increased from the EU (+4.3% y/y, 46.5% of total), the USA (+18.4% y/y, 19.4% of total), Israel (+11.1% y/y, 8.2% of total) and Türkiye (+11.8% y/y, 3.2% of total) in December. In contrast, transfers reduced from Russia (-55.8% y/y, 11.0% of total) and Kazakhstan (-50.3% y/y, 2.6% of total). Overall, in 2024 money transfers decreased by 18.9% y/y to US$ 3.4bn.
