Georgia's foreign trade turnover grew 16% year-on-year to USD 7.59 billion in January-September of 2012 with the trade gap widening to USD 4.05 billion, a 17.8% y/y increase, state statistics office, Geostat, said on October 24.

Georgia’s export amounted to USD 1.77 billion in the first three quarters of 2012, up by 14% y/y and import was USD 5.8 billion, a 17% increase over the last year’s same period.

Trade with Turkey, which is Georgia’s long-time largest trading partner, accounted USD 1.169 billion in January-September; while import from Turkey amounted to USD 1.05 billion, export from Georgia to Turkey was only USD 117.8 million in the first nine months of this year.

Turkey is followed by Azerbaijan with total trade turnover of USD 940.6 million; Ukraine – USD 544.6 million; Germany - USD 459 million; China - USD 434.7 million; Russia – USD 371.5 million (trade gap with Russia amounted to USD 306.2 million); the United States - USD 341.2 million; Bulgaria – USD 244.1 million; Italy – USD 240 million; Armenia – USD 235.2 million.

Re-export of cars amounted to 24.4% of the country's total exports in the first nine months quarters of 2012 with USD 432.2 million, followed by ferroalloys with USD 202.9 million (making its share in total export 11.5 %); nitrogen fertilizer - USD 104.7 million (5.9%); hazelnut – USD 65.8 million (3.7%); raw or semi-processed gold – USD 62.1 million (3.5%); non-denatured ethyl alcohol and spirits – USD 61.3 million (3.5%); mineral waters – USD 45.4 million (2.6%); reinforcing bar for construction (rebar) – USD 43.3 million (2.4%); wine – USD 42.6 million (2.4%); scrap metal - USD 42.1 million (its share in Georgia’s total exports was down to 2.4% from 6.7% in last year’s same period).

Oil products still tops the list of imports totaling USD 702.5 million making its share in total imports 12.1% in January-September, 2012; followed by cars with USD 492.3 million (8.5%); wheat - USD 184.1 million (3.2%); hydrocarbons - USD 182.8 million (3.1%); medicines - USD 162 million (2.8%); mobile and other wireless phones - USD 84.3 million (1.4%); electrical power transformer – USD 78.8 million (1.4%); computers – USD 78.5 million (1.3%); metal construction materials – USD 78.5 million (1.3%); tractors – USD 65.2 million (1.1%).