Georgia and Italy: a relationship built on wine, tradition — and remittances

Wine may be the most obvious link between Georgia and Italy, but it is far from the only one. Behind the shared vineyards and culinary traditions lies a growing economic relationship fueled by trade, tourism, migration, and the steady flow of money and people between the two countries.

Italy is rarely mentioned among Georgia’s headline economic partners, overshadowed by larger regional players and neighboring markets. Yet the numbers tell a different story. Behind the scenes, the relationship between the two countries has steadily deepened in recent years — powered less by large-scale investment deals and more by something far more personal: wine, labor migration, remittances, and growing business connections.

That relationship received fresh political attention in April when Georgia’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture David Songulashvil, met with Italy’s Agriculture Minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, during the internationally renowned Vinitaly exhibition in Verona.

According to Georgia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, discussions focused on agricultural cooperation, wine production, food safety standards, and research partnerships. Particular attention was placed on viticulture, laboratory systems, and quality standards—areas becoming increasingly important as Georgia aims to push deeper into European export markets.

Trade

Trade between Georgia and Italy reached a record $549 million in 2025, marking a 17% increase year-on-year and continuing a broader upward trend that has been building since 2021. In the first two months of 2026 alone, trade turnover between the two countries already totaled nearly $74 million.

The relationship, however, remains heavily tilted toward Italian imports.

In 2025, Georgia imported more than $444 million worth of Italian goods, while exports to Italy reached approximately $105 million. Still, Georgian exports nearly doubled compared to the previous year, increasing by an impressive 95%.

Italian products entering Georgia range from cars and trucks to packaged pharmaceuticals, central heating boilers, and cosmetics. Georgian exports heading in the other direction remain more concentrated, largely consisting of nuts, ferroalloys, seamless pipes, fertilizers and furniture products.

The imbalance highlights a familiar pattern within Georgia’s trade structure: imported manufactured and industrial goods continue to dominate, while exports remain focused on commodities and agricultural products.

Wine diplomacy — Georgian qvevri wines meet Italian sommeliers

If there is one area where Georgia and Italy naturally speak the same language, it is wine.

Italy may not yet be a major importer of Georgian vine material or wine products, but interest in Georgia’s indigenous grape varieties has grown steadily across Europe in recent years—particularly among natural wine producers, researchers, and sommeliers searching for climate-resilient and heritage grape varieties.

Much of that interest remains niche and experimental rather than commercial, but Georgia’s ancient winemaking tradition has increasingly found a receptive audience in Italy’s sophisticated wine scene.

Georgian producers have become regular participants at events such as the Slow Wine Fair in Bologna and the Merano Wine Festival, where qvevri wines are introduced to Italian buyers, distributors, and wine professionals.

In many ways, Georgian wine has carved out a place in Italy not as a mass-market import, but as part of the broader natural and heritage wine movement—a category where authenticity often matters more than scale.

For Georgia, the sector also carries broader strategic importance. As the country works to diversify exports beyond traditional post-Soviet markets, wine remains one of its most internationally recognizable products and a growing source of soft power abroad.

Remittances: Italy’s real economic footprint in Georgia

While trade statistics help explain the commercial side of the relationship, remittances reveal something deeper.

Italy is home to one of the largest Georgian diaspora communities in the world. Migration took off after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with many Georgians moving to Italy for work in elderly care, domestic services, hospitality, and construction. Over time, those communities became larger, more established, and economically significant for families back home.

In 2025, remittances transferred from Italy to Georgia reached $621.4 million — up nearly 10% compared to the previous year. Italy now ranks second only to the United States as a source of remittances to Georgia and accounts for roughly 17% of total inflows.

In just the first two months of 2026, transfers from Italy already exceeded $106 million.

Remarkably, remittances from Italy are larger than the total value of trade in goods between the two countries. They also exceed Italian foreign direct investment in Georgia by an enormous margin.

For many Georgian households, income sent from relatives working in cities such as Rome, Milan, or Naples continues to provide a crucial layer of financial stability.

The trend also reflects a broader shift in Georgia’s remittance landscape. While transfers from Russia surged following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, those flows have since declined. Meanwhile, countries such as Italy, Germany, and Greece continue to play an increasingly important role as long-term and relatively stable sources of inflows.

Taken together, the numbers suggest that migration and remittances—rather than investment—remain the true backbone of Georgia–Italy economic relations.

Tourism growing, but investment remains limited

Tourism between the two countries has also been steadily growing.

According to official statistics, international visitor arrivals from Italy reached 27,735 in 2025, compared to just under 20,000 a year earlier. Visitor numbers have climbed consistently since 2022 and have now surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

The growing relationship is also reflected institutionally through organizations such as the Italy–Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which works to facilitate business partnerships and commercial dialogue between the two countries.

Yet despite stronger tourism and trade flows, Italian investment in Georgia remains surprisingly modest. The highest annual level of Italian foreign direct investment was recorded back in 2006, when FDI reached $57.5 million. Since then, investment levels have remained relatively low and stable. In 2025, Georgia received just $2.1 million in Italian investment—slightly below the previous year.

The contrast is notable: while Georgian workers in Italy send hundreds of millions of dollars home each year, large-scale Italian corporate investment in Georgia has never fully materialized.

Still, Italy’s importance within Georgia’s broader European economic relationships appears to be growing. It may not dominate headlines in the same way as larger trading partners, but through trade, wine, migration and tourism, the ties between the two countries have become far more substantial—and far more human—than the numbers alone initially suggest.