Some details of salaries in Georgia

The purchasing power of the salaries paid to Georgian citizens in 1988, during the Soviet period, and 1994, when Georgia was in its third year of independence, have been compared. The Soviet salary was 6 times greater with its buying power 6 times larger, than in independent Georgia.

In 2003 the average salary was around GEL 126 (approximately USD 60) per month. By 2009 salaries had increased approximately 4 times, reaching around GEL 560 on average. Civil servants saw significant salary increases, in some cases receiving 20 times greater salary than in 2003. This increase in civil service salaries was one of the major steps taken to decrease the level of corruption in the country.

However people in general have not seen any growth in salary. The number of people actually receiving a salary has decreased since 2003. There have been decreases in the number of people employed overall, both directly and in self-employment. Compared with the 1990s the number of the people receiving salaries is four times less today. It is therefore not enough, in any real terms, to calculate only the average salary but it is important to have in the mind how many people receive this salary.