Based on data from the 2024 Population Census, the Center for Social Justice reviewed the share of the economically active population in Georgia and published a blog post on the issue.
The organization’s analysis highlights employment and unemployment trends over the past decade, including a decline in the share of the economically active population and the employment rate, as well as an increase in the share of the economically inactive population (pensioners and people under the age of 15).
“The 2024 Census identified 3,158,758 people aged 15 and over. Some of them are economically active (employed people and unemployed people who have actively looked for work during the past four weeks and are ready to start working within the next two weeks), while others are economically inactive.
The latter category includes, on the one hand, the potential labor force (people who actively looked for work during the past four weeks but are not ready to start working within the next two weeks, or people who did not look for work during the past four weeks but are ready to start working within the next two weeks) and, on the other hand, people outside the labor force (people who did not look for work during the past four weeks and were not ready to start working within the next two weeks, such as pensioners, students, and others).
As the analysis of the data shows, compared with 2014, the share of the economically active population among people aged 15 and over fell from 63.7% to 55.6% in 2024.Since 2014, the unemployment rate has declined from 16.1% to 13%. However, the employment rate has also fallen, from 53.4% to 48.3%, meaning that the share of employed people among the population aged 15 and over has decreased. This means that the share of the economically inactive population has increased, which, in turn, can be considered a negative economic and/or demographic trend.
At the same time, for statistical purposes, an employed person is defined as someone aged 15 or older who worked for at least one hour during the previous week in exchange for remuneration or profit. Therefore, the employment rate of 48.3% also includes people who worked for just one or two hours. This figure does not automatically indicate the number of hours a person works or whether their employment is adequate.A notable gender gap is also evident in this area. Both nationwide and in every region, the employment rate among women (44.1%) is lower than among men (53.2%). The remaining share of women falls into the categories of unemployed or economically inactive people.
The situation is even more difficult in a number of municipalities in terms of employment and unemployment. In 16 municipalities, the employment rate ranges between 39% and 43%, while in 13 municipalities, the unemployment rate exceeds 17%.A comparison of data from Georgia and the European Union makes it possible to draw interesting conclusions. While the average employment rate among people aged 20–64 in the European Union was 75.7%, the same indicator in Georgia stood at just 59.6%. This indicates that Georgia needs effective, population-oriented policies in order to reach the EU average,” the organization writes.
