21.3% of Georgia's population lives below the poverty line

Almost 794,000 people or 21.3% of the Georgian population were living below the absolute poverty line in 2020. This means that these people did not have access to the bare minimum of living conditions.

Judging by the data of the National Statistical Office, the number of people below the poverty line in the country is growing from year to year. In 2019, 19.5% of the population belonged to this category, and a year later, almost 70,000 more people were registered as living in absolute poverty.

The situation in villages is much worse than in cities. In 2020, of the rural population, 27.5% were living below the poverty line, as well as 17.1% of the urban population.

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There are regions in Georgia where almost half (43%) of the population receives social benefits including mountain regions of Georgia – Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti.

From large regions, most people find it difficult to live in the western regions of Samegrelo and Guria. Samegrelo is the region where most of the internally displaced persons from Abkhazia live.

The least of all social benefits are received in the regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti and Imereti. This can be explained by the fact that migration from these two regions is particularly high.

Javakheti is densely populated by ethnic Armenians, and for decades local men used to go to Russia for seasonal work.

There is a large emigration from Imereti to Europe – Italy, Greece, and also to Turkey.