Q1 2017: Georgia’s businesses enjoy 15.2b GEL turnover

The turnover enjoyed by Georgia’s business sector is increasing, reaching 15.2 billion GEL in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017.

This was 19.1 percent more year-on-year (y/y), showed latest data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

The value of production generated by the business sector also grew to reach 7.5 billion GEL in Q1 of 2017. This was 16.1 percent higher y/y.

Large businesses made up the majority of total turnover (48.1 percent), followed by medium-sized businesses (21 percent) then small businesses (30.9 percent), said Geostat.

Additionally large businesses made up 43.9 percent of total production value, medium-sized businesses generated 24.6 percent of total production value and small businesses made up 31.5 percent of this.

How many people are employed in the business sector?

About 605,000 people were employed in Georgian businesses in Q1 of 2017 – a five percent increase y/y, said Geostat.

Of these employed people, 40.2 percent were women and 59.8 percent were men.

The majority of people (41.9 percent) worked in small businesses, 36 percent were employed in large business and the remaining 22.1 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 this year was 1,024 GEL. This was an increase of 101.6 GEL y/y.

Meanwhile the average monthly salary for women in the business sector was 776.4 GEL, which was 89.3 GEL more compared to the same quarter of 2016.

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

• Large businesses: 1,154.9 GEL per month
• Medium-sized businesses: 1,133.4 GEL
• Small businesses: 827.9 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 – 64.9 percent
• Adjara – 9.1 percent
• Imereti –6.8 percent
• Kvemo Kartli – 5.6 percent
• Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 3.9 percent