14.5% of Georgian population receiving social assistance, Mestia highest recipient town

In Georgia 541,764 people, or 14.5% of the Georgian population receive social assistance from the state and this number has increased by 83,296 individuals in the last one year, announces the Social Service Agency of Georgia. 

In addition, social assistance is the only source of income for 151,000 families in Georgia, says the agency.

The town with the highest ratio of the number of aid recipients to the population was Mestia in the Svaneti region of Georgia, where according to the latest data, 65.9% of the local population received social assistance.

Here are the top 10 regions of Georgia where the most people receive social assistance:

1. Mestia - 6,129 people (or 65.9% of local population)
2. Ambrolauri - 4,353 people (48.9% of local population)
3. Oni - 2,968 people (48.7% of local population)
4. Lentekhi - 2,077 people (47.2% of local population)
5. Tsageri - 4 ,224 people (41% of local population)
6. Keda - 6,839 people (40.5% of local population)
7. Khulo - 8,901 people (37.9% of local population)
8. Zugdidi - 22,504 people (36.1% of local population)
9. Dmanisi - 6,860 people (36.1% of local population)
10. Kharagauli - 6,827 people (35% of local population)

On the other hand, only 305 people took social assistance in the ancient Georgian town of Mtskheta, which is 3.1% of the local population.

Last year 339,277,444 GEL was issued for social assistance, while in the first three months of 2021 a total of 89,818,591 has already been transferred.