Georgia’s businesses employ 637,000 people in Q1 2018

Georgian businesses employed about 637,000 people in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, of which 40.6 percent were women and 59.4 percent were men.

The number of people employed in the Georgian business sector increased by 5.3 percent compared to the same quarter of 2017, 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 – 65 percent
• Adjara – 9.5 percent
• Imereti – 6.9 percent
• Kvemo Kartli – 5.5 percent
• Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 4 percent

The majority of people (40.6 percent) worked in small businesses, 37.2 percent were employed in large business, and the remaining 22.2 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 Q1 of 2018 was 1,106.4 GEL. This was an increase of 82.4 GEL y/y.

Meanwhile, the average monthly salary for women in the business sector was 841.1 GEL, which is 64.7 GEL more compared to Q1 of 2017.

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: 1,193.2 GEL per month
• Medium-sized businesses: 1,219.6 GEL
• Small businesses: 944.1 GEL

Business sector’s turnover and production value in Q1 of 2018

The turnover enjoyed by Georgia’s business sector is increasing, reaching 18 billion GEL in the Q1 of 2018. This was 18.6 percent more year-on-year (y/y).

The value of production generated by the business sector also grew to reach 8.7 billion GEL. This was 16 percent higher y/y.

Large businesses made up the majority of total turnover (47.5 percent), followed by small businesses (31.1 percent), and then medium-sized businesses (21.4 percent), said Geostat.

Additionally large businesses made up 43.5 percent of total production value, small business generated 31.6 percent of total production value and medium-sized businesses made up 24.9 percent of total production value.