TBILISI, October 20 – Georgia’s foreign trade is quietly setting new records. From January through September, the country traded goods worth USD 18.5 billion, a 9 percent rise from last year, according to fresh data from the National Statistics Office (GeoStat) released Monday.
The growth was powered by exports of USD 5.15 billion, up 7.7 percent, while imports climbed 9.7 percent to USD 13.4 billion. The resulting trade gap, though wide, reflects a pattern familiar across the region: Georgia is importing fuel, machinery and cars faster than it can sell wine, metals and services abroad.
What’s new is where Georgia is trading. For the first time, Kyrgyzstan, a small Central Asian republic linked to Georgia through the so-called Middle Corridor trade route, has overtaken both Russia and Turkey as Tbilisi’s biggest export market, buying goods worth USD 1.08 billion. Kazakhstan ranked second with USD 658 million, followed by Russia with USD 543 million.
On the import side, the picture looks very different: the United States, Turkey, and China remain Georgia’s main suppliers, together accounting for roughly a third of total imports.
September was particularly strong. Monthly exports jumped 14 percent year on year to USD 703 million, even as imports dipped slightly. GeoStat says the top ten trading partners now account for almost 80 percent of exports and 71 percent of imports.
Some will see the data as further proof that Georgia’s economy is becoming a critical link in Eurasian trade. Much of the activity runs through ports on the Black Sea and overland transit through the South Caucasus to Central Asia, routes that have gained importance since Russia’s war in Ukraine reshaped logistics across the region.
