According to Irakli Kobakhidze, currently more people in Georgia receive social assistance than are actually classified as poor. He stated that the number of social assistance recipients needs to be reviewed.
“The poverty rate has halved over the past four years. It was 21.3%, and last year’s data show it has dropped to 9.4% – a result of economic growth. At the end of 2020, our economy was approximately $4,300 per capita and today it has risen to around $9,200 per capita. For the first time in history, this year it will exceed $10,000 per capita. The economy has grown more than twice in dollar terms. The Lari also appreciated rapidly, which naturally led to a reduction in the poverty rate: from over 20% to 9.4%.
For the first time, more people receive social assistance than the number of people living below the poverty line. In other words, there are now more recipients than actual poor people – something that has never happened in Georgia’s history since the 1990s. Of course, this indicator needs to be reviewed, considering that a kind of moratorium has been in place since 2020.
As you know, during COVID-19, due to objective and external factors, the number of socially vulnerable people increased sharply. At that time, we faced serious economic problems — the economy contracted by 6.5% in 2020. This caused challenges in the budget regarding social support, and the number of socially vulnerable individuals increased. Since then, a kind of moratorium was in effect, so the numbers did not decrease but continued to rise. However, this does not indicate a deterioration in the population’s social conditions. The poverty rate fell from 21.3% to 9.4%,” Kobakhidze said during his speech in Parliament.