. Despite the severe damage the
economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with the help of
the IMF and World Bank, has made substantial economic gains since 1995,
achieving positive GDP growth and curtailing inflation. However, the
Georgian government suffers from limited resources due to a chronic
failure to collect tax revenues. Georgia also suffers from energy
shortages; it privatized the T'bilisi distribution network in 1998,
but collection rates are low, making the venture unprofitable. The
country is pinning its hopes for long-term recovery on its role as a
transit state for pipelines and trade. The start of construction on
the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in summer 2002 will bring much-needed
investment and job opportunities to the country.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $15.5 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 8.4% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,100 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 25% industry: 20% services:
55% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: 54% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 27.9% (1996)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 37.1 (1996)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.6% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 2.1 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: industry 20%, agriculture 40%, services 40%
(1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 17% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $499 million expenditures: $554 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries: steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances,
mining (manganese), chemicals, wood products, wine

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2000)

Electricity - production: 7.404 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 20.99% hydro: 79.01%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 7.886 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 200 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 1.2 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: citrus, grapes, tea, vegetables, potatoes;
livestock

Exports: $450 million (2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports;
citrus fruits, tea, wine, other agricultural products

Exports - partners: Turkey 22.3%, Russia 20.6%, Germany 10.4%, Azerbaijan
6.3%, Armenia 4%, US 2.2% (2000)

Imports: $723 million (2001 est.)

Imports - c