Foreign direct investment in Georgia's economy falls 22% in H1

TBILISI. Sept 8 (Interfax) - Foreign direct investment in Georgia's economy fell 22% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 to $750.1 million, national statistics office Geostat said.

Incoming FDI fell 23.2% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026 after falling 20% YoY to $281.3 million in Q1 2026. It was previously reported that FDI rose 50% in Q1 this year, but the statistics service later adjusted its figures upward for 2025, including for the first quarter of last year. Consequently, the data for the first quarter of this year have changed dramatically.

Equity investments rose 26.8% in H1 2026 to $314.3 million, reinvested capital fell 42.6% to $450 million and outflow of debt investment shrank 80% to $14.1 million.

Most of the investment in H1 2026 came from China - $236 million, the UK - $176 million, Malta - $63.4 million, the UAE - $51.6 million and Azerbaijan - $45.3 million.

This investment went primarily into the financial and insurance sectors - 44%, real estate - 25.6%, manufacturing - 12.6% and construction- 7.3%.

FDI grew 19.3% to $1.9 billion according to adjusted data in 2025. The Galt&Taggart investment bank expects incoming FDI to reach $1.8 billion in 2026.