Geostat: Unemployment Rate Decreased in Georgia by 0.1%
Tuesday, May 22
The information was released by the Executive Director of National Statistics Office of Georgia, Gogita Todradze on May 21.
According to the statistics, there are a total of 1 million and 700 thousand unemployed persons in the country. 880,000 of them are self-employed and 280 thousand – are employed in the state sector.
Todradze added that the unemployment rate is higher for men. In 2017 the gender-based difference in the unemployment rate stood at 2.3 percentage points. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment increased by 1.8 percentage points for women and decreased by 1.6 percentage points for men.
According to Todradze, the level of activity is higher in men. In 2017 the level of activity in women was 58.2%, and in men - 74.6%.
The employment rate for women increased by 0.2 percent in 2017 and decreased by 1.1 percent in men.
Geostat statistics read that the downtrend in the unemployment rate is maintained during the last eight years.
In 2017 the economically active population constituted 65.8 percent of the working population (population of 15 years and older). Compared to 2016 the economic activity rate and employment rate decreased by 0.5 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively.
The employment rate in urban settlements decreased by 1.5 percentage point compared to the previous year, while increasing by 0.8 percentage points in rural areas. Similarly, compared to the previous year the economic activity rate in the urban settlements decreased by 1.6 percentage points and increased by 0.8 percentage points in rural areas.
“Traditionally, self-employed persons account for the majority of the employed population. However, this share tended to decline during the past four years. In 2017 the share of self-employed equaled 51.7 percent, decreasing by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year,” the statistics read.
Moreover, compared to the previous year the unemployment rate increased in Tbilisi (by 1.6 percentage points), Shida Kartli (2.0 pps), Kvemo Kartli (3.5 pps) and Imereti (1.2 pps) regions. The biggest drops in the unemployment occurred in Adjara and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (by 5.8 and 3.4 pps, respectively).
In terms of age structure the highest rate of unemployment in 2017 still remained for the 20-24 age group (29.6 %).
However, the indicator decreased by 3.2 percentage points compared to 2016. The unemployment rate is traditionally the lowest for the 65+ age group, owing to a high inactivity rate in this age group.