Q2 2016: Georgia’s businesses enjoy 14.2 b GEL turnover

More money is flowing into the Georgian economy thanks to growing business earnings, latest quarterly figures show.

Data released by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) revealed in the second quarter (Q2) of 2016, Georgia’s business sector enjoyed 14.2 billion GEL turnover. This was 10.8 percent more year-on-year (y/y).

The value of production generated by the business sector also grew and amounted to 7.5 billion GEL in Q2 of 2016. This was 7.5 percent higher y/y.

Large businesses made up the majority of total turnover (79.1 percent), followed by small businesses (11.3 percent) and medium-sized businesses (9.6 percent), Geostat said.

Additionally large businesses made up 78.7percent of total production value, small businesses generated 10.8 percent of total production value and medium-sized businesses made up 10.5 percent of this.

How many people are employed in the business sector?

About 601,000 people were employed in Georgian businesses in Q2 – a 5.7percent increase y/y, said Geostat.

Of these employed people, 40.6 percent were women and 59.4 percent were men.

The majority of people (60.9 percent) worked in large businesses, 24.7 were employed in small businesses and the remaining 14.4 percent worked in medium-sized businesses, said the statistics agency.

What is the average monthly salary in Georgia?

The average monthly salary for a person employed in the business sector in Q2 of 2016 was 978.1 GEL. This was an increase of 35.9 GEL y/y.

Meanwhile the average monthly salary for women in the business sector was 727.5GEL, or 37.4 GEL more compared to the same quarter of last year.

The amount of money earned by businesses depended on the size of their enterprise, with larger businesses earning more than their smaller counterparts.

• Large businesses: 1,148 GEL per month;
• Medium-sized businesses: 783 GEL;
• Small businesses: 582 GEL.

Number of employees per region

Most people employed in the business sector worked in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, which was regarded as the country’s economic hub.

Geostat revealed the number of employees by region:

• Tbilisi – 71 percent;
• Adjara – 7.6 percent;
• Kvemo Kartli – 6 percent;
• Imereti – 4.7 percent;
• Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 3.2 percent.

Meanwhile, Geostat’s annual employment data of 2015 said about 1.8 million people were employed in Georgia last year and most of them were self-employed.