October inflation was 5.9% — and housing rents rose 12.8%

Consumer prices in Georgia rose 0.9% in October against September, and 5.9% against October 2025. Core inflation, which strips out the most volatile items, ran at 4.0%, and at 3.9% excluding tobacco. The gap between the headline 5.9% and the core 4.0% is the first thing worth noticing: nearly two percentage points of the published rate is coming from a handful of categories rather than from broad price pressure across the basket.

Transport prices were up 21.9% on the year and contributed 2.54 percentage points of the 5.9% — more than two fifths of the whole figure from one category. Within it, the operation of personal transport equipment rose 30.3% and transport services 14.5%, while purchase of vehicles was almost flat at 1.7%. That is a fuel-and-running-costs story rather than a car-prices story. The direction of travel has also been steep: in August, transport was up 15.2% and contributing 1.81 points, so the category added roughly seven percentage points of annual increase in two months.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose 10.1% on the year and contributed 0.98 points. The sub-components matter more than the total here. Actual rentals for housing were up 12.8%, maintenance and repair of the dwelling 11.9%, and electricity, gas and other fuels 10.6%. In August the same three read 8.4%, 8.7% and 10.3% — so rents have accelerated fastest of the three, moving 4.4 percentage points in two months. For a landlord, that is market rent moving well ahead of general prices. For a tenant, it is the same fact from the other side. Both should note that renovation costs are rising at a similar pace, which narrows the gain from re-letting a flat that needs work first.

Health costs rose 8.4% and contributed 0.69 points, with out-patient services up 11.7% and medical products, appliances and equipment up 9.4% — relevant to anyone budgeting a stay here without employer cover. Pulling the other way, education fell 12.0% and subtracted 0.53 points, driven by a 32.9% drop in tertiary education, even as pre-primary and primary rose 8.8% and secondary 6.6%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages were comparatively quiet at 3.1%, contributing 1.07 points, with fish up 20.2% and meat up 7.6% against falls in fruit and grapes of 4.5% and in sugar and confectionery of 3.3%.