Roman Gotsiridze: Manipulating economic growth figures is one of Georgian Dream's brazen lies; they deliberately conflate nominal and real GDP—every lie must be countered; if they say it a hundred times, we must answer a hundred times
"Having come to power through lies, Georgian Dream continues its policy based on lies. One form of this brazen dishonesty is the manipulation of economic growth figures—a practice they have engaged in for fourteen years. Despite being repeatedly exposed by professionals, they persist in their falsehoods," writes Roman Gotsiridze, former President of the National Bank, on social media.
According to Gotsiridze, the Georgian Dream government deliberately conflates nominal and real GDP.
"Having come to power through lies, Georgian Dream continues its policy based on lies. One form of brazen dishonesty is the manipulation of economic growth figures—a practice that has persisted for fourteen years. Despite being repeatedly exposed by professionals, they refuse to abandon these falsehoods.
"Georgia's economy has grown fourfold"—the Georgian Dream Prime Minister has lied yet again, for the hundredth time. This does not represent real economic growth; in reality, the economy has only doubled.
The Georgian Dream government deliberately conflates nominal and real GDP, thereby propagating misleading conclusions.
Let us look at the figures:
- In 2012, Georgia's nominal GDP was 27.9 billion GEL.
- In 2025, it stands at 104.6 billion GEL.
In terms of current prices, GDP has indeed grown approximately 3.75-fold, but there is a crucial "small" detail: nominal GDP includes price increases—meaning the government is essentially taking credit for rising prices. To understand the actual extent of economic growth, we must compare real GDP figures—that is, the indicator expressed in constant prices and adjusted for inflation.
According to Geostat data, in 2019 constant prices:
- Real GDP in 2012 was approximately GEL 36.2 billion.
- Real GDP in 2025 is approximately GEL 72.7 billion.
A simple calculation—dividing the larger figure by the smaller one—yields a result of 2.
In other words, between 2012 and 2025, the volume of Georgia's real economy doubled—growing by approximately 100 percent.
It did not quadruple, as claimed by the outlets spreading false propaganda sanctioned by the deceitful government.
Every lie must be answered. If they say it a hundred times, we must answer a hundred times," writes Gotsiridze.
