Geostat: Poverty in Georgia has decreased in 2018

According to the National Statistics Office, the poverty rate has decreased in Georgia. Georgia’s population has slightly decreased, reaching 3,723,500 people as of January 1, 2019, says another data from Geostat.

Most people under the absolute poverty line live in the country’s rural areas. According to Geostat's data of 2018, the share of the population below the absolute poverty line is as follows: Georgia - 20.1 %, urban areas - 18.0 %, rural areas - 23,1 %.

In 2017, this indicator was 21.9% and in 2016 22%. Absolute poverty level indicator shows how many people have access to minimal living conditions. 23.1% of the people under the absolute poverty line live in villages and 18% in the cities.

To find out the poverty level, they also use relative indicators. Comparative figures show that in comparison with the average income in the country, the share of the population is 40 or 60 percent less. The share of the population below 60 percent of the median consumption is as follows: Georgia - 20.5 %, the city - 17.2 %, the village - 25.4 %. As for the share of the population below 40 percent of the median consumption, it is 7,6 % in the country, 6.6 % in the city and 9.1 % in the village. In 2017 these figures in the whole country were 22.3% and 8.5%.

To note, the average monthly salary in Georgia was 1,202 GEL (about $448.51/ˆ394.92) in the fourth quarter of 2018, said Geostat.

Geostat has announced on its official Facebook page, that on May 31, 11:00 pm, Gogita Todradze, Executive Director of the National Statistics Office of Georgia will hold a briefing on the following topic: Preliminary Assessment of Economic Growth - April 2019 Place: National Statistics Office of Georgia.