Georgia’s economy is projected to contract by 6 percent in 2020, reflecting the strong mobility restrictions at the start of the pandemic, job losses, as well as continued restrictions on international tourism, which contributed around 8 percent of GDP prior to the pandemic – World Bank reports.

According to the information released today, the welfare impacts will be equally severe; as many as 160,000 Georgians could fall into poverty in 2020 and over 400,000 could suffer downward income mobility.

Economic growth is projected to reach 4 percent in 2021, as the shocks related to the pandemic dissipate and tourism recovers alongside improving consumer and business confidence – World Bank reports.

“Georgia’s efforts to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 crisis have been strong and made possible by prudent economic management prior to the pandemic, but a lot more remains to be done to address the projected widening of the poverty gap," said Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus. “The World Bank was part of the government’s COVID-19 response, providing support to Georgiathrough improvements to the health sector and social protection measures. And now, through our planned private sector support, as well as the targeted budget support, we stand ready to contribute to Georgia’s post-pandemic resilient recovery efforts.”