Unemployment rate declines; reaches 12-year low

The annual unemployment rate in Georgia declined by 0.4 per cent and equaled 12.0 per cent in 2015, the lowest level of the past 12 years, according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). According to its latest data, about 1.8 million people were employed in Georgia last year and most of them were self-employed.

Figures showed 1,018,100 people were self-employed while 753,400 were hired by other individuals or business entities; the remaining 8,400 workers did not specify their employment status.

Unemployment is more characteristic for urban residents (21.5 per cent) than rural (4.8 per cent). In this case, Tbilisi shows one of the worst rates (-1.1) compared with 2014.

The largest percentage of unemployed people (32 per cent) is among young people aged between 20 and 24.

Unemployment in Georgia is more prevalent among men (13.5 per cent) than amongst women (10.2 per cent) of women. The employment rate among women is 52.9 per cent, and 67.6 per cent among men.

Geostat also shows that just over two million people were capable of working in Georgia; however, only 1,779,900 (60 per cent) were employed last year. In general, 2,021,500 people in Georgia’s made up the national workforce with 958,300 people outside the labor force category.