Georgia's foreign trade turnover grew 39% year-on-year to USD 6.481 billion in the first three quarters of 2011 with the trade gap widening to USD 3.377 billion - up by 37% y/y, state statistics office, Geostat, said on October 24.

Export amounted to slightly over USD 1.552 billion in January-September, up by 42% y/y and import was USD 4.929 billion up by 38% over the same period of the last year.
 
Turkey remains Georgia largest trading partner accounting USD 1.06 billion in the first three quarters of 2011; from Turkey Georgia received the highest value of imports amounting USD 901.2 million; Georgia’s exports to Turkey amounted to only USD 162 million, less than in Azerbaijan or in Armenia in January-September. Georgia mainly exports scrap metal and ferroalloys to Turkey.

Turkey is followed by Azerbaijan with total trade turnover of USD 713 million; Ukraine – USD 613.1 million; China - USD 395.9 million; Germany - USD 342.5 million; Russia – USD 296.4 million; the U.S. - USD 281.7 million; Bulgaria – USD 231.9 million; Armenia – USD 207.4 million; United Arab Emirates - USD 194 million.

Armenia is the only country among Georgia’s top ten trading partners with whom Georgia had a positive trade balance (USD 124.4 million) in January-September, 2011.

In overall from 137 countries with which Georgia traded in the first three quarters of 2011 it had positive balance with 23 countries, down from 32 in the same period of last year, according to Geostat.

Re-export of cars amounted to 21.5% of the country's total exports in the first three quarters of 2011 with USD 332.9 million, followed by ferroalloys with USD 196.7 million (making its share in total export 12.7%); scrap metal - USD 103.8 million (6.7%); nitrogen fertilizer - USD 95.6 million (6.2); raw or semi-processed gold – USD 87.1 million (5.6%); copper – USD 56.9 million (3.7%); hazelnut – USD 54.15 million (3.5%); reinforcing bar for construction (rebar) – USD 49.4 million (3.2%).

Oil products topped the list of imports totaling USD 656.3 million making its share in total imports 13.3%; followed by cars with USD 278.1 million (5.6%); hydrocarbons - USD 174.5 million (3.5%); medicines - USD 142.7 million (2.9%); wheat - USD 139.8 million (2.8%); mobile and other wireless phones - USD 98.3 million (2%); metal construction materials – USD 77.4 million (1.6%); sugar – USD 69.3 million (1.4%); cigarette – USD 62.2 million (1.3%).