Georgian PM highlights “historic low” in unemployment, “strong” economic growth at Gov’t meeting

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday emphasised the country’s “leading” positions in economic growth indicators, claiming it “stood out” not only in the wider region but also among European countries.

Georgia is number one in terms of economic growth indicators”, he told the Government meeting.

Kobakhidze also reviewed recent employment and unemployment data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, which said the unemployment rate now stood at 13.7 percent, compared to 16.7 percent in the same period last year.

• Unemployment rate in Georgia down by 3.1% in Q2, statistics office says

The Prime Minister said unemployment was at a “historic low” and added the country had seen the creation of 60,000 new jobs, attributing this achievement to the “robust” economic growth of an average 9.7 percent over the past three years and a nine percent growth rate for the current year.

Kobakhidze emphasised economic growth as the “main factor” for reducing unemployment and boosting employment. He underscored the importance of a growing workforce in generating additional revenue for the state budget, enabling the Government to implement new projects and expand existing programmes.