The statement that Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan made on his Facebook page on January 6 sparked great reactions in not only Armenia, but also Georgia. The statement was about the GDP per capita in Armenia, based on which, according to Pashinyan, Armenia has surpassed Georgia, and in 2020 it will surpass Azerbaijan. The Prime Minister of Armenia confirms all this based on the data provided by the International Monetary Fund, according to which, based on the data of 2019, in accordance with nominal prices, Armenia’s GDP comprises $4,527, while Georgia’s GDP comprises $4,289.
Aliq.ge reports that after today’s government session, Georgian Minister of Economy Natia Turnava answered the question whether Armenia has surpassed Georgia in terms of this indicator.
“This is a wrong evaluation since elementary methodological issues haven’t been taken into consideration. Overall, when a political figure or analyst aspires to win with such indicators and begins to compare Georgia with other countries of the region, I call on them to become familiar with elementary methodology first. I must mention that in November 2019, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat) introduced a new method of calculation that still hasn’t been reflected in the reports of international financial institutions, including the report of the International Monetary Fund. The countries of our region (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova) have also conducted their recalculation of the GDP based on the new methodology, but this happened sooner, and consequently, their data have already been reflected in the data of the International Monetary Fund. Believe me when I say that, in the conditions of this high economic growth, based on Georgia’s evaluation, the GDP per capita in Georgia will reach $4,700. Therefore, all this will be shown in the next report of the International Monetary Fund,” Georgia’s economy minister declared.
On November 15, 2019, the National Statistics Office of Georgia launched the new methodology of calculation of the GDP (SNA 2008). Until then, Georgia would calculate the GDP with the SNA 1993 methodology.
