In December 2017, the Georgian MEAT sub-index increased by only 0.7%, compared to October 2017. Nevertheless, in absolute terms, this is the highest month-to-month change since last April. The main driver of this change was beef prices of similar magnitude, but pork and chicken meat prices also played their roles.

Even more striking were the changes in year-to-year scale; November 2017 domestically produced MEAT was almost 13% more expensive than in November 2016, and this is the record high figure for the AGRIndex. Fresh beef prices have risen by +14.3% in the last 12 months, while fresh mutton prices increased by +10.3% in the same period, pork prices have gained approximately +9.6% of their November 2016 value in the last month, and chicken meat prices increased a bit.

As far as the determinant of year-to-year price changes is concerned, the fast-growing foreign demand on Georgian meat and “not-so-fast-growing” reproduction of the same goods on Georgian farms might be the key. According to GeoStat, in the first 10 months of 2017, the country boosted its live sheep and sheep meat exports approximately 2.9 times, compared to the same period of 2016, yet the average number of sheep was virtually unchanged. Additionally, exports of live poultry increased approximately more than threefold, but at the end of Q3 of 2017, there were 9.5 million heads of poultry versus 10.2 million head at the end of Q3 of 2016. The situation is different for the pig and pork markets. The number of pigs at the end of September 2017 exceeded the corresponding figure for September 2016 by 19%. Pork exports declined in 2017, and imports were on rise, increasing the chances to more easily get pork on New Year tables. Happy New Year, everyone!