Georgia’s poverty rate at “historic low” of 15.6% - Gov't Administration
The Administration said 549,000 people had got out of poverty in the country last year, and contrasted the figure of over 1.1 million people below the poverty line in 2012 with the 2022 figure of 574,000. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tweet 
Share
The Administration of the Government of Georgia on Monday said the economic data of 2022 had shown the poverty rate in the country was at a “historic low” of 15.6 percent.
The Administration said 549,000 people had got out of poverty in the country last year, and contrasted the figure of over 1.1 million people below the poverty line in 2012 with the 2022 figure of 574,000.
Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said the double-digit economic growth of the past two years and the Government’s “targeted social policy” had been reflected in both the increase of employment and reduction of poverty.
We should continue this pace [and] this trend in order to improve the condition of citizens in the country”, Davitashvili said, adding defeating poverty was “one of the main tasks” of the Government and its economic team.
The summary 2022 data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia said on Monday the share of the population under the absolute poverty line had decreased by 1.9 percent year-on-year.
It showed the poverty figure had decreased by 2.7 percentage points, to 12.3 percent, in urban areas, and by 0.7 percentage points, to 20.6 percent, in rural locations.
The absolute poverty rate also decreased in all age groups of the population in 2022.
The Office said the poverty indicator stood at 20.4 percent (-2.3 percentage points) in the under-18 age group, at 15.3 percent (-2.0 percentage points) in the 18-64 age group, and 10.5 percent (-1.4 percentage points) in 65 and older age group.
Absolute poverty rates for women decreased by 1.8 percentage points, to 15.3 percent, while for men it decreased by 2.1 percentage points and stood at 15.8 percent.
The Gini coefficient - which measures inequality among values such as levels of income - changed from 0.37 to 0.36 for total incomes compared to 2022, while it remained unchanged at 0.34 in total consumption expenditures.
Davitashvili noted lowering Gini coefficients signified more evenly distributed incomes, adding the trend was “very important for the formation of a right society”.
Georgia’s population was measured at 3,736,400 people as of January 1.
Unemployment rate in Georgia decreased by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of the previous year and equalled 18 percent across the country, data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia shows.
Georgia’s population increased by 1.3 percent compared to 2021 and reached 3,736,400 people as of January 1, 2023 the National Statistics Office of Georgia said on Thursday in its latest update.
Georgian civil agencies registered 26,048 marriages across the country in 2022, with the figure marking a 12.5 percent increase year-on-year, while the number of divorces equalled 14,098 and a 32.3 percent increase, the National Statistics Office of Georgia said on Thursday.
Georgia’s first-ever Time Use Survey released
With the support of United Nations Women, the National Statistics Office of Georgia has released Georgia’s first-ever Time Use Survey, highlighting data about the time spent on various activities by the population of the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday claimed the current “period of peace” for the country under his Government and its “correct policy” were to be credited with the “exemplary” domestic economic growth of 7.3 percent between January-April and the international tourism revenue exceeding 100 percent in the first quarter of the year.
The current and future economic projects, as well as positive indicators of economic growth in the country, were discussed on Saturday by the Georgian Government’s Economic Council, led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
In 2022, 18 percent less deaths were recorded in Georgia, with the number standing at 49,118, the latest data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia shows.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday told the country’s Parliament inflation was expected to further decline in the country after being observed at 1.5 percent in May, a 0.1 percent reduction compared to the previous month.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the MP and the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said “Georgia’s having almost double nominal economic upturn” in three years certainly implies a “relevant” growth in everything, including the turnover of enterprises and the employment rate in the country.
The Georgian Government must lead the country to peace and its main task is to maintain the rapid development in Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the media on Saturday.
Georgia is one of 20 countries with a Global Hunger Index score of less than five, the 2023 edition of the annual report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe shows.