In 2021 the unemployment rate in Georgia increased by 2.1 percentage points compared to 2020 and amounted to 20.6%, - show the preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

In 2021 labour force participation rate (share of the labour force in total population aged 15 and older) increased by 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year and became 50.9%, while employment rate declined by 0.7 percentage points and amounted to 40.4%. The Labour force participation rate in urban settlements increased by 0.2 percentage points and by 0.8 percentage points in rural settlements compared to the previous year. The employment rate in urban settlements as well as in rural areas decreased by 0.9 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

In 2021, the share of hired employees was 68.2% among employed persons, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous year.

In 2021, the unemployment rate in urban settlements increased by 1.9 percentage points compared to the previous year and in rural settlements - by 2.4 percentage points.

In 2021, compared to the previous year, the biggest rise in the unemployment rate was observed in Tbilisi, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Imereti regions by 3.7, 3.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively.

As of the repoert, the unemployment rate is higher for men than for women. In 2021, compared to the previous year this indicator increased for women by 1.6 percentage points, while it increased by 2.5 percentage points for men.

The labour force participation rate is higher for men than for women. In 2021 the indicator for women was 40.5 percent and for men – 62.9%. The labour force participation rate for women increased by 0.1, while that increased by 0.9 percentage points for men, compared to the
previous year.

In 2021 the employment rate for women as well as for men decreased by 0.5 and 0.9 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous year.

In 2021, the highest rate of unemployment was in the age group of 15-19 years (52.2%), while this indicator is traditionally the lowest in the 65+ age group (6.0%) due to the low activity of the population in this age group.