New Year feast will cost Georgian citizens 8% more than last year

The cost of a New Year dinner in Georgia

According to a study by the International School of Economics in Tbilisi, ISET, this year a traditional New Year’s Eve dinner will cost Georgian citizens 183 lari [about $ 60], which is 8.3% more than last year.

The research index calculates the prices of cooking traditional meals for a family of five to six people, such as shashlik, satsivi, khachapuri, trout, fried chicken, olivier salad, pkhali, cucumber and tomato salad, kozinaki and fruits.

As it turned out, the cheapest New Year’s feast will cost in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia – 176.5 lari [about $ 57], and the most expensive – 189.1 lari [about $ 61] – in the mountainous region of Racha-Lechkhumi.

“Food prices are rising in both local and international markets, as evidenced by a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Such a high inflation rate has not been witnessed since the 2011 food crisis. For example, in November, prices rose by 27.3% on an annualized basis. As a rule, the rise in prices on international markets is one of the main reasons for the annual inflation in Georgia”, the report says.

Last year, prices for vegetables in Georgia increased by 43%, for oil by 31 percent and for bread by 19%. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, inflation is the main reason for the rise in food prices. Inflation in the country was 12.8% compared to October last year, which is an anti-record for the last 10 years.

According to Geostat, the formation of annual inflation was mainly influenced by changes in prices in the following groups: food and soft drinks, transport, water, electricity and gas, healthcare.