As the National Statistics Office of Georgia reported, the increase in production was observed mainly thanks to an increase in water flow, Geostat said in its update of annual figures.

In other statistics, the Office said 35,500 tonnes (+13.4% y/y) of crude oil, 147,900 tonnes (+48.9% y/y) of coal and 16 million cubic metres (1.8 times more than in previous year) of natural gas had been extracted throughout the year.

"Firewood production had increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year and amounted to 1.25 million cubic metres, while production of other biofuels and waste had decreased year-on-year.

Electricity consumption in 2021 reached 13.11 billion kilowatt-hours, 14.3 % more than in the previous year, while demand on natural gas amounted to 2.80 billion cubic metres, 3.8 % more than in 2020. Geostat also said final consumption of natural gas had been 2.22 billion cubic metres, or an 11 percent annual increase, in 2021.

The consumption of natural gas had increased in the household sector (+9.3% y/y), while consumption of natural gas by commercial and public services had increased, consumption of natural gas by road transport had gone down, partially due to price growth and increasing competitiveness of the liquefied petroleum gas. Increased amount of hybrid and electric-powered cars was causing a decrease in their natural gas consumption.

Within the total energy consumption structure, the figures saw a 39 % share on natural gas, with oil products (28.3%) and electricity (23%) also characterized with relatively high shares,” - the National Statistics Office of Georgia reported.