Georgia’s Foreign Economic Dependence Index fell to $9.01 billion in the first quarter of 2026, down 4.4% from the previous quarter and 2.8% compared with the same period last year, according to a report by ICC Georgia and EBIT Group. The index measures the country's exposure to foreign economies by combining five indicators: imports, exports, money flows, foreign direct investment (FDI), and tourism income.
The quarterly decline was broad-based, with tourism revenue, FDI, exports, and money flows all decreasing, while imports rose by 4.5%. The report attributes much of the quarterly slowdown to seasonal factors, including weaker tourism after the peak holiday season and the unwinding of several one-off transactions recorded in late 2025.
On an annual basis, the biggest driver of the decline was a 40.4% drop in net money flows, almost entirely caused by an 85.2% collapse in inflows from Russia as the surge that followed 2022 continued to fade. At the same time, Georgia's export performance remained strong, with exports increasing 22.6% year-on-year, led by rapidly growing shipments to China and Turkey. FDI also rose 51.2% from a low base recorded a year earlier.
The report points to a gradual shift in Georgia's external economic structure. The European Union remained the country's largest economic partner, accounting for 19.7% of the index, while Russia's share declined to 11.3% from 15.9% a year earlier. China overtook the United States to become Georgia's fourth-largest economic partner after exports to the country more than tripled. Despite the overall decline, the report concludes that Georgia's external sector has become more diversified and less dependent on a single source of foreign inflows, with the country's external economic footprint remaining equivalent to 98.2% of quarterly GDP.
