01Key Takeaways
- Georgia imported $15.61 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 15.29% from $13.54 billion in 2022, its highest total across the five-year window.
- Vehicles led every import category at 24.66% ($3.85 billion), the raw material behind Georgia's massive car re-export business.
- Türkiye was the top supplier at 16.49% ($2.57 billion), followed by the USA at 13.19% and Russia at 11.17%.
- Russia remained Georgia's third-largest import supplier despite the political tension between the two countries.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $9.5B | $8.0B | $10.1B | $13.5B | $15.6B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey | $2.6B | 16.5% |
| 2 | United States | $2.1B | 13.2% |
| 3 | Russia | $1.7B | 11.2% |
| 4 | China | $1.3B | 8.5% |
| 5 | Germany | $974.4M | 6.2% |
| 6 | Azerbaijan | $654.7M | 4.2% |
| 7 | Japan | $615.7M | 3.9% |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | $385.3M | 2.5% |
| 9 | Italy | $374.0M | 2.4% |
| 10 | Armenia | $336.8M | 2.2% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $3.8B | 24.7% |
| 2 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $1.7B | 11.1% |
| 3 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $1.2B | 7.7% |
| 4 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $953.5M | 6.1% |
| 5 | Pharmaceutical Products | $651.0M | 4.2% |
| 6 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $445.6M | 2.9% |
| 7 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $402.4M | 2.6% |
| 8 | Iron and Steel | $368.7M | 2.4% |
| 9 | Ores, Slag and Ash | $313.0M | 2.0% |
| 10 | Essential Oils and Resinoids; Perfumery, Cosmetic or Toilet Preparations | $261.2M | 1.7% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
The Vehicles Fueling Georgia's Re-Export Business Have to Come From Somewhere
Georgia imported $15.61 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 15.29% from $13.54 billion the year before. Vehicles led every category, worth $3.85 billion, or 24.66% of the total, a category that exists largely because Georgia has become a major transit point for used cars headed on to Central Asia and the Caucasus. Poti Port has emerged as the undisputed leader in Georgia's auto import sector, handling the majority of all vehicle shipments entering the country, feeding a re-export pipeline that turned vehicles into Georgia's single largest export category as well. Mineral fuels ranked second at 11.14% ($1.74 billion), reflecting Georgia's near-total dependence on imported oil and gas.
Machinery, boilers, and nuclear reactors added 7.68% ($1.20 billion), a routine industrial category for an economy that manufactures relatively little heavy equipment of its own. Electrical machinery contributed 6.11% ($953.47 million), and pharmaceutical products took 4.17% ($651.01 million), reflecting a domestic drug industry that covers only part of the country's healthcare needs. Plastics added 2.85% ($445.61 million), and iron or steel articles contributed 2.58% ($402.43 million). Iron and steel added another 2.36% ($368.74 million), both tied to Georgia's construction and infrastructure sectors, which have expanded steadily alongside the growth of the vehicle re-export business itself.
Ores, slag, and ash took 2.00% ($312.97 million), a smaller figure than the manganese Georgia itself exports, since some of what gets processed domestically still needs supplementary imported ore. Essential oils, resinoids, and perfumery preparations closed out the top ten at 1.67% ($261.22 million). Outside of vehicles and fuel, no single category here dominates the way vehicles dominate Georgia's export list, and the gap between the top category and everything beneath it remains substantial throughout the rest of this list.
Russia Is Still One of Georgia's Biggest Suppliers
Turkey was Georgia's largest import supplier in 2023 at 16.49% ($2.57 billion), its closest major trading neighbor. The United States followed at 13.19% ($2.06 billion), a share that lines up closely with the American vehicle auctions and dealer networks that supply much of the used-car inventory feeding Georgia's re-export trade. Russia took third at 11.17% ($1.74 billion), rounding out a top three that made up 40.86% of total import value. That is a striking figure given the political tension between the two countries. Russia fought a war with Georgia in 2008 and continues to occupy Georgian territory in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, yet trade between the two economies has continued to grow regardless.
Georgia imported 97% of its total wheat and flour from Russia in 2023, and Russian natural gas accounted for about 20% of Georgia's internal gas consumption, with the remaining 80% supplied by Azerbaijan. Political friction between the two governments has not stopped Georgia's economy from depending on Russia for specific staples it has few easy alternatives for. China added 8.52% ($1.33 billion), and Germany contributed 6.24% ($974.44 million). Azerbaijan took 4.19% ($654.67 million), and Japan added 3.94% ($615.73 million), another established source of used vehicles for the re-export trade. The United Arab Emirates contributed 2.47% ($385.28 million), Italy took 2.40% ($373.96 million), and Armenia closed out the top ten at 2.16% ($336.77 million).
A Faster Climb Than the Export Side, Not a Slower One
Georgia's import total climbed unevenly through the pandemic before accelerating sharply. It stood at $9.52 billion in 2019, then fell to $8.05 billion in 2020 as global trade slowed. It recovered to $10.10 billion in 2021, then jumped to $13.54 billion in 2022, a year that lines up closely with the early stages of Georgia's rise as a car re-export hub.
The 2023 total of $15.61 billion, up 15.29% year over year, actually outpaces the 9.03% growth seen on Georgia's export side over the same period. That gap makes sense given how the re-export business works. Every vehicle Georgia sends on to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan first has to arrive as an import. A growing export pipeline mechanically requires a growing import pipeline behind it, and the two totals should be expected to move together over time, even though they will rarely match exactly in any single year. Watching whether Georgia's import and export totals keep moving in this same rough proportion, or whether one starts pulling ahead of the other, is one of the clearest ways to track whether the re-export business itself is still expanding or has started to plateau.