In the second quarter of 2026, the volume of cargo transported by Georgian Railway reached 3.9 million tons, marking a 19.9% increase compared to the same period last year.
According to data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), transit accounted for the largest share of transported cargo structure at 59.8%. International shipments made up 33.5% (excluding transit), while domestic shipments accounted for 6.7% of the total volume.
During the reporting period, 75.3% of cargo transported via international rail mode was imported into the country, while 24.7% was exported.
Cargo Breakdown by Direction
Imports: The Russian Federation was the origin country for 38.0% of total imported rail cargo, followed by Azerbaijan at 22.7%. The share of other individual countries remained below 10% each.
Exports: The primary destination for exported cargo was Armenia (17.4%), followed by Russia (10.1%) and Kazakhstan (7.1%).
Transit: The main destination countries for transit cargo were Turkey (8.2%), the Netherlands (8.1%), and China (5.5%).
Cargo Categories & Commodity Types
Coke and refined petroleum products accounted for the largest share of total rail cargo volume (32.7%). Chemicals, chemical products, and plastic items ranked second at 22.2%, followed by food products, beverages, and tobacco at 13.7%.
Domestic Shipments: Dominated by metal ores and quarry products (54.5%).
Transit Shipments: Petroleum products, chemicals, and food products jointly constituted 83.6% of transit cargo.
Passenger Transport Statistics
Amid the growth in cargo turnover, the number of passengers transported by Georgian Railway in Q2 2026 decreased by 0.5%, totaling 425.8 thousand. Consequently, passenger turnover dropped by 2.3% to 91.7 million passenger-kilometers.
Domestic Travel: 408.4 thousand passengers were transported domestically (95.9% of the total), representing a 3.4% decline compared to Q2 2025.
International Travel: International passenger traffic surged to 17.4 thousand passengers, approximately 3.5 times higher than in the second quarter of 2025. The main flow of international passengers was on routes to Azerbaijan and Armenia.
