Georgia Moves Up 11 Spots in the World Bank's Logistics Index

In the 2018 release of the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Georgia is ranked 119 of 160 countries that were evaluated. The country’s overall score was 2.44 points out of a possible 5. Georgia has improved its position by 11 places since the 2016 LPI, where it ranked 130 with an overall score of 2.35.

The LPI is an interactive benchmarking tool that the World Bank developed to help countries identify challenges and opportunities in the field of trade logistics. It also serves as a guide for where performance can be improved. LPI scoring is a combination of qualitative and quantitative factors. The qualitative component is based on a global survey of logistics operators (international freight forwarders and express carriers), who judge the logistics ‘friendliness’ of the countries where they work. The LPI website explains that survey respondents “combine in-depth knowledge of the countries in which they operate with informed qualitative assessments of other countries where they trade and experience of global logistics environments.” Operators’ survey responses are combined with quantitative performance data on key components of a country’s logistics chain.

Georgia’s scores have improved in nearly all six of the categories evaluated: efficiency of the clearance process (i.e. speed, simplicity, and predictability of formalities) by border control agencies, including Customs; quality of trade and transport related to infrastructure (e.g. ports, railroads, roads, information technology); ease of arranging competitively priced shipments; competence and quality of logistics services (e.g. transport operators, customs brokers); ability to trace and track consignments; and timeliness of shipments in reaching destinations within the scheduled or expected delivery time.

Category/ Year

Customs

Infrastructure

International Shipments

Logistics Competence

Tracking & Tracing

Timeliness

2016

2.26

2.17

2.35

2.08

2.44

2.80

2018

2.42

2.38

2.38

2.26

2.26

2.95

The LPI offers both international and domestic perspectives. The international LPI takes a qualitative approach, aggregating evaluations of a country by logistics professionals working outside the country in the six categories described above. The domestic LPI surveys logistics professionals inside a country to get a qualitative and quantitative perspective, including detailed descriptors of the logistics environment, core logistics processes, institutions, and information on performance speed and costs.

Data for the 2018 LPI was collected by the World Bank during the period from September 2017 – February 2018. A total of 869 respondents from international logistics companies participated in the data collection process.

The number one spot in this year’s LPI was taken by Germany, for the third time in a row, with a score of 4.20, followed by Sweden (4.05) and Belgium (4.04). Near Georgia in the rankings are Togo at 118 and the Democratic Republic of Congo at 120. Among its neighbors, Georgia ranks near the bottom:

Turkey – 47 out of 160 countries

Romania – 48

Bulgaria – 52

Iran – 64

Ukraine – 66

Kazakhstan - 71

Russia – 75

Armenia – 92

The worst ranking countries in this year’s LPI are Afghanistan, with a score of 1.95 out of 5, Angola (2.05), and Burundi (2.06).

For the full Logistics Performance Index, visit: www.lpi.worldbank.org/international/global/2018

By Samantha Guthrie

30 July 2018 18:30