Nominal wages up 16.3% y/y in 3Q23
In 3Q23, average monthly nominal wages in Georgia increased by 16.3% y/y (+15.6% in real terms, adjusted for a sharp reduction in annual inflation) to GEL 1,855, after growing by 17.1% y/y in 2Q23, according to Geostat. By economic activity, the highest monthly average wages were observed in the following sectors: information and communication (GEL 3,958, +18.8% y/y), construction (GEL 3,033, +31.6% y/y), financial and insurance (GEL 2,807, +13.4% y/y), professional and scientific activities (GEL 2,616, +17.3% y/y) and public administration (GEL 2,099, +17.4% y/y). The lowest average monthly wages were in education (GEL 1,039, +12.9% y/y), water supply (GEL 1,150, +17.5% y/y), agriculture (GEL 1,234, +7.6% y/y) and hotels and restaurants (GEL 1,413, +14.9% y/y) in 3Q23.
Goods trade deficit narrowed in Nov-23
In Nov-23, goods exports declined by 1.8% y/y to US$ 482.0mn, after a 10.3% y/y growth in previous month. Similarly, goods imports also contracted by 6.6% y/y, reaching US$ 1.2bn in November, after growing by 4.8% y/y in October. Consequently, the trade deficit narrowed by 9.5% y/y to US$ 742.6mn.
Overall, in 11M23, trade deficit expanded by 20.0% y/y to US$ 8.5bn, as exports increased by 11.1% y/y to US$ 5.6bn, while imports were up by 16.3% y/y to US$ 14.0bn.
Money transfers stood at US$ 292.7mn in Nov-23
Money transfers were down by 43.8% y/y to US$ 292.7mn in Nov-23 (in line with our expectation), due to the last year’s high base and normalization in transfers from Russia. From major remitting countries, transfers reduced from Russia (-76.2% y/y and +22.0% m/m, accounting for 25.7% of total) and Türkiye (-9.8% y/y). In contrast, similar to previous months, there were substantial increases in remittances from Italy (+19.7% y/y, 14.6% of total), USA (+41.6% y/y, 13.9% of total), Germany (+32.2% y/y, 6.9% of total), Greece (+7.8% y/y, 6.9% of total), Israel (+8.1% y/y, 6.4% of total) and Kazakhstan (+71.3% y/y, 6.2% of total). Overall, in 11M23 remittances remained relatively flat, decreasing by just 0.6% y/y to US$ 3.8bn.
