Page 20 - GEORptMar21

4.4 Labour and income
4.4.1 Unemployment, income dynamics
Labour market assistance from COVID-19
Georgia’s unemployment rate at 18.3% in Q3
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia on April 24 unveiled a Georgian lari (GEL) 3.5bn ($1.1bn, equivalent to 7% of GDP) anti-crisis plan to mitigate the economic and social effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
According to the PM, 350,000 citizens will be entitled to receive targeted financial assistance, “the bare minimum of what the Georgian Government could offer today to each of its citizens.”
The employees who have lost their jobs during the pandemic will receive a monthly allowance amounting to GEL200 for six months ($375 in total).
Employees who have not been laid off during the pandemic and receive less than a GEL750 ($234) salary, will be exempted from income tax for the next six months. For those who earn less than GEL1,500 ($469), income tax will only apply to a GEL750 ($234) tax base.
Self-employed people or jobless persons able to prove they have lost income due to the pandemic will receive GEL300 ($94) as one-off assistance. Socially deprived groups (320,000 people), as well as adults and children with disabilities (40,000 people), will be entitled to GEL600 ($188) financial assistance for the next six months.
Georgia’s unemployment rate was at 17% in the third quarter of 2020, inched downwards from 18.3% in the first and second quarters.
The unemployment rate in 2019 was 17.6%, continuing the downtrend of the last ten years, data from the state statistics office Geostat shows. Unemployment remained highest among young people, reaching over 25% for 20-24 year olds, even though it declined for this age group compared to 2017.
The unemployment rate declines steadily as ages increase though, as Geostat points out, the low level for the 65+ age group is due to the high inactivity rate in this age group.
The average monthly nominal earnings in Georgia amounted to GEL1,239.5 in the third quarter of 2020, up from the previous quarters.
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Q1’ 20
Q2’20
Q3’20
Q4’20
Active population (labour force), thousand persons
1675.6 1653.8 1641.4 1605.2 1572.8 1545.2 1515.0 1528.9 1505.7
Employed, thousand persons
1255.0 1308.5 1294.5 1286.9 1296.2 1295.9 1262.7 1237.6 1197.9
Unemployed, thousand persons
367.2 359.2 354.5 309.0 276.9 282.6 277.4 259.8 307.8
Unemployment rate, percentage
21.9 21.7 21.6 19.2 17.6 18.3 18.3 17.0 20.4
Source: Geostat
20 GEORGIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com