80% of Georgian population is below poverty line

The scale of poverty in Georgia is becoming very dramatic, however the Georgian administration is trying to keep everyone calm with attractively presented statistics. According to the independent analysts only around 10% of the Georgian population is rich or well off. Maybe around 8-10% represents the so called middle class, whereas more than 80% of the population lives below the poverty line. Even the notion of middle class is rather controversial. It is considered that if a family has GEL 2500 on its account it is middle class. But this money could scarcely cover costs of a family in case of serious medical need, purchasing a house or even a car. So it is doubtful whether there really is a middle class in the country.

According to some estimations around 1.6 mln Georgians consider themselves socially vulnerable. Officially, if at least one member of the family works even if his wage is around 100 Lari per month, the family is not poor. However it is impossible to consider that a family who earn 100 lari in a month could be deemed anything but poor. According to official statistics the existing minimum for a four person family is GEL 266.