How much money do you need to live in Georgia?

The amount of money a person needs to support themselves in Georgia is slowly rising.

Figures from Geostat, the National Statistics Office of Georgia, revealed the country’s minimum subsistence level had slightly increased in the past 30 days, as well as the same time in 2014.

Figures showed the minimum subsistence level for an able-bodied male in May 2015 was almost 162 GEL. This was about nine GEL higher than in May 2014, where the minimum subsistence level was 153.5 GEL.

For the average consumer, the minimum subsistence level was 143.4 GEL. Last month this figure was 142.2 GEL, while in May 2014 a person needed 135.9 GEL to survive.

For an average family the minimum subsistence level reached 271.6 GEL in May this year.

As for households, the minimum amount of money needed to survive was:

• For a one-person household – 143.4 GEL
• For a two-person household – 229.4 GEL
• For a three-person household – 258.1 GEL
• For a four-person household – 286.8 GEL
• For a five-person household – 322.6 GEL
• For a six or more person household – 381.4 GEL

Geostat calculated the average subsistence rate based on the 2015 consumer basket.

The composition of the updated 2015 consumer basket was identical to the consumer basket of 2014, which contained 295 items. Each year the weight of the products and services were updated to reflect any price changes.

The consumer basket was used to calculate the Consumer Price Index - the inflation rate in the country - which reflected the structure of consumption of products of an average consumer in the country.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s annual inflation rate is dropping but the monthly inflation rate is on the rise.

Geostat revealed the monthly inflation rate in Georgia reached 0.6 percent in May 2015, while the annual inflation rate equalled 3.5 percent.

To compare, April data noted the monthly inflation rate in Georgia reached 0.3 percent, while the annual inflation rate equalled 2.5 percent.