In the first quarter of 2026, Georgia ranked among the top five countries for used car imports into Russia. This was reported in a quarterly import review by the Russian agency Autostat, as cited by Autonews.
Specifically, 82,300 used cars were imported into Russia between January and March, representing a 21% increase compared to the same period last year.
Of this volume, Georgia’s share accounted for 2.8%, or 2,305 vehicles. The quarterly breakdown of used car imports to Russia by country is as follows:
- Japan — 57.7%
- China — 23.6%
- South Korea — 7.4%
- Belarus — 3.7%
- Georgia — 2.8%
- Germany — 0.9%
- Kyrgyzstan — 0.8%
- Kazakhstan — 0.6%
- Other countries — 2.5%
Toyota leads among imported brands, while the Honda Fit holds the top spot among specific models. In 2025, Georgia’s share of total used car imports to Russia rose to 7.4%.
As a reminder, the US, EU, and UK banned vehicle exports to Russia in March 2022. In Georgia, the ban officially took effect on August 1, 2023, covering the re-export and export of American cars to Russia. Starting September 26 of that year, under the EU’s 11th sanctions package, restrictions were extended to both Russia and Belarus.
According to official Georgian data, car exports to Russia and Belarus dropped to a minimum following the introduction of the ban. Specifically, figures from Geostat (the National Statistics Office of Georgia) show that from the time restrictions were implemented through the end of 2025, only 58 cars were exported to Russia and 18 to Belarus, whereas prior to the sanctions, annual shipments to these countries ranged from 2,000 to 5,000 vehicles.
