Unemployment reaches 19% in Georgia

Every fifth able-bodied citizen of Georgia is unemployed, the state statistics office said in a statement on results of Q12022.

Report informs, citing Kommersant, that the unemployment level in the country made 19.4% between January and April.

However, the figure dropped somewhat compared to the indicator of 2021 (21%).

According to the procedure adopted in Georgia, the so-called self-employed, including those engaged in agriculture, are not considered unemployed. Only citizens who have no regular income are taken into account.

Experts believe the country's unemployment could reach 40% to 50% among urban residents had it not been for the opportunity to leave for seasonal work to neighbor Turkiye (mainly tea-growing) and the EU. Using the visa-free regime with the countries of the Schengen agreement, which came into effect in March 2017, hundreds of thousands of Georgians left for the European countries to earn a living. Georgians mainly opt for Italy, Germany, and Poland.