The World Bank has published a new report on poverty and equity in Georgia. According to the document, international poverty indicators in Georgia have declined to historic lows as of 2024, highlighting significant socio-economic progress in the country.

The share of Georgia`s population living below the international extreme poverty line has dropped sharply, falling almost 2.5 times in just 2 years to reach 1.8% in 2024.

The World Bank projects that this figure will decrease further to 1.4% in 2025 and reach 1.1% by 2027 [for comparison, in 2003, 12.95% of the population was living below the international poverty line, by 2012, this figure had only slightly declined to 10.67%. Since 2012 extreme poverty has fallen sixfold over 12 years].

The report describes Georgia`s progress as a result of strong economic growth, improved labor market conditions, and targeted government policies. Between 2017 and 2023, the poverty rate - defined by the international poverty threshold of daily consumption below USD 6.85 (in 2017 PPP) - fell from 53.9% to 40.7%.

During the same period, Georgia`s welfare gap - a metric that indicates how far average incomes fall short of reaching a USD 25 daily income standard (in 2017 PPP) - improved from 5.1 in 2017 to 4.0 in 2023, reflecting gains from economic development and government interventions.

Income inequality has also declined, as demonstrated by a drop in the Gini index from 37.9 in 2017 to 34.8 in 2023. Post-pandemic poverty reduction efforts were bolstered by rising real wages, pensions, and enhanced social protection measures. Besides, inflation dropped to 1.9% by the end of 2024, easing cost-of-living pressures on low-income households.

Economic expansion in sectors such as trade, services, tourism, and construction contributed to employment growth, helping reduce the unemployment rate from 20.6% in 2021 to a record low of 13.9% in 2024. Youth unemployment also improved, with the share of 15–24-year-olds not in employment, education, or training falling from 28.5% in 2020 to 21% in 2023.