According to the data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT), chocolate exports have increased by 76% compared to the previous year. However, it should be noted that the share of local exports in the export figure is only 31%, and the re-export volume amounts to the remaining 69%.
Georgia's top trading partners by chocolate exports is Armenia, which accounts for 46% of total exports.
The ranking of the largest exporting countries is as follows:
1. Armenia - $1.3 million, 251 tons;
2. Iran - $877 thousand, 175 tons;
3. Azerbaijan - $409 thousand, 109 tons;
4. Saudi Arabia -$ 90 thousand, 33 tons;
5. Uzbekistan - $85 thousand, 14 tons.
As for imports, in January-August 2023, Georgia also purchased 10,793 tons of chocolate and cocoa-containing food products with a record value of $43 million 496 thousand.
According to GEOSTAT, in January-August of this year, compared to the same period of the previous year, the value of chocolate import increased by 35%, and the volume increased by 3%.
During this period, a large part of chocolate, 35%, was imported to the Russian market.
The ranking of Georgia's top-10 trading partners by chocolate imports is as follows:
1. Russia - $15.4 million, 4 587 tons;
2. Turkey - $4.9 million, 1 179 tons;
3. Ukraine - $ 4.5 million, 1 264 tons;
4. Poland - $ 4.2 million, 947 tons;
5. Belgium - $ 3.5 million, 813 tons;
6. Netherlands -$  2.6 million, 456 tons;
7. Italy - $ 1.6 million, 420 tons;
8. Germany - $ 1.5 million, 193 tons;
9. Croatia - $935 thousand, 175 tons;
10. Bulgaria - $657 thousand, 91 tons.