Georgia’s businesses enjoy 64.1b GEL turnover in 2016, employ 666,800 people

Georgian businesses employed about 666,800 people in 2016, of which 39.8 percent were women and 60.2 percent were men.

Last year the number of people employed in the Georgian business sector increased by 6.4 percent compared to 2015, shows the latest data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

The majority of people employed in the business sector worked in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi, which is regarded as the country’s economic hub.

Geostat revealed the number of employees by region:

• Tbilisi – 61.8 percent
• Adjara – 10 percent
• Imereti – 7.4 percent
• Kvemo Kartli – 6 percent
• Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 4.3 percent

The majority of people (46 percent) worked in small businesses, 32.7 percent were employed in large business, and the remaining 21.3 percent worked in medium-sized businesses, said the statistics agency.

What is the average monthly salary in Georgia’s business sector?

The average monthly salary for a person employed in the business sector in 2016 was 938.3 GEL. This was an increase of 41.5 GEL y/y.

Meanwhile, the average monthly salary for women in the business sector was 716.3 GEL, which is 36.5 GEL more compared to 2015.

The amount of money businesses earned depended on the size of their enterprise, with people therefore receiving a larger salary if they were employed in a larger business compared to their smaller business counterparts.

Average monthly salaries based on the size of business:

• Large businesses: 1,129.5 GEL per month
• Medium-sized businesses: 1,085.9 GEL
• Small businesses: 697.7 GEL

Business sector’s turnover and production value in 2016

The turnover enjoyed by Georgia’s business sector is increasing, reaching 64.1 billion GEL in 2016. This was 12.5 percent more year-on-year (y/y).

The value of production generated by the business sector also grew to reach 34.2 billion GEL in 2016. This was 13.9 percent higher y/y.

Large businesses made up the majority of total turnover (44.1 percent), followed by small businesses (34 percent), and then medium-sized businesses (21.9 percent), said Geostat.

Additionally large businesses made up 41.6 percent of total production value, medium-sized businesses generated 25.1 percent of total production value, and small businesses made up 33.3 percent of total production value.