Georgia has dropped to 43rd place in the Trade Barriers Index

Georgia has fallen to 43rd place in the world in the 2025 Trade Barriers Index (TBI). The index covers 122 countries and assesses how easy and free the trading environment is in each of them. The report was prepared with the support of the American research center Tholos Foundation and is based on assessments of countries against various criteria prepared by authoritative sources - OECD, WTO, World Bank and other international organizations. Georgia ranked 40th in the index in 2023. The report does not explain what changes directly caused the country to drop in the index.

The index consists of four main columns:

● Tariffs - customs duties and the number of customs lines;

● Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) – regulations and restrictions that hinder trade;

● Service restrictions – in the financial, telecommunications, professional and other sectors;

● Trade facilitation – property rights, logistics, digital trade regulations and free trade agreements.

A country’s final score is calculated based on the average of these components, with 1 point representing the freest trading environment and 10 points representing the most restrictive. Georgia’s score in the index is 3.86.

Top 10 countries in the world with the fewest trade barriers:

1. Hong Kong (2.69)

2. Singapore (2.78)

3. Israel (3.04)

4. Canada (3.05)

5. Japan (3.07)

6. New Zealand (3.07)

7. Australia (3.20)

8. Netherlands (3.26)

9. United Kingdom (3.33)

10. Panama (3.37)

Last 10 countries:

● Central African Rep. (5.15)

● China (5.16)

● Zimbabwe (5.18)

● Philippines (5.25)

● Vietnam (5.36)

● Thailand (5.54)

● Venezuela (5.56)

● India (5.72)

● Russia (5.81)

● Indonesia (5.84)

Georgia’s neighboring countries are ranked as follows in the index:

Armenia – 104th place (4.96)

Azerbaijan – not included in the list (not included in the 2025 edition)

Turkey – 106th place (4.99)

Russia – 121st place (5.81)

These results indicate that Georgia continues to rank first in the region in terms of trade openness. In the previous index, Russia was in 87th place, and its decline is mainly due to international sanctions.

However, the index only assessed 122 countries and does not include countries for which the authors of the index were unable to find verifiable information. Accordingly, this means that Indonesia, which is in last place in the index, is not really the country with the most restrictive barriers to foreign trade, since countries such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Myanmar and others do not participate in the index at all.

Global trends

According to the report, the average trade barrier score in 2025 is 4.22 points, which is 7% higher than in 2023. According to the authors, the trend is associated with global economic tensions, restrictions on digital trade and attempts by states to protect local industries. This is particularly exacerbated by the trade war launched by Donald Trump in 2025, which is likely to lead to a further deterioration in the global trade openness index in next year's index.

Info: bm.ge