ge share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.5% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 3.08 million (1997)

Labor force--by occupation: industry and construction 31%,
agriculture and forestry 25%, other 44% (1990)

Unemployment rate: 16% (1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $364 million
expenditures: $568 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1998)

Industries: steel, aircraft, machine tools, foundry equipment,
electric locomotives, tower cranes, electric welding equipment,
machinery for food preparation and meat packing, electric motors,
process control equipment, trucks, tractors, textiles, shoes,
chemicals, wood products, wine

Industrial production growth rate: -0.3% (1998 est.)

Electricity--production: 6.845 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 29.88%
hydro: 70.12%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 6.949 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 300 million kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 404 million kWh (1996)

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

Exports: $230 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.)

Exports--commodities: citrus fruits, tea, wine, other agricultural
products; diverse types of machinery; ferrous and nonferrous metals;
textiles; chemicals; fuel reexports

Exports--partners: Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Armenia,
Bulgaria, Turkey, US, UK, Italy, Germany, Romania (1997)

Imports: $931 million (c.i.f., 1997 est.)

Imports--commodities: fuel, grain and other foods, machinery and
parts, transport equipment

Imports--partners: Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan (1996); note?EU and
US send humanitarian food shipments

Debt--external: $1.3 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $212.7 million (1995)

Currency: lari introduced September 1995 replacing the coupon

Exchange rates: lari per US$1 (end of period)--1.82 (December
1998), 1.32 (December 1997), 1.28 (December 1996), 1.24 (December
1995)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 760,000 (1996 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: local--T'bilisi and K'ut'aisi have cellular telephone
networks with about 10,000 customers total; urban areas 20
telephones/100 people; rural areas 4 phones/100 people; intercity--a
fiber-optic line connects T'bilisi to K'ut'aisi (Georgia's second
largest city); nationwide pager service
inte