According to the data collected at the final stage of Population Welfare Survey, poverty rate has raised in Georgia. On the national level, 4,3% of total households, 5% of the population, 6,8% of children and 3,7% of pensioners live below the poverty line. According to the assessment, the portion of persons living in extreme poverty in rural areas is 4% and in urban settlements – 4,5%.
Within the period from 2015 to 2017, the rate of households, population, children and pensioners living below the extreme poverty line has grown by 2,6%, 2,9%, 4,3% and 2% respectively.
The survey also revealed that 22,5% of households live below the relative poverty line and the difference between rural and urban areas is big (24,1%-20,9%).
During the last two years, the portion of households and population living below the relative poverty line has increased from 20,7% to 22,5% and from 23,1% to 24,8% respectively, while the number of children living in poor households has grown from 26,8% to 31,6%.
According to the recent survey conducted by UN, during the last two years the overall poverty level has also risen. In 2015 this rate was 16,4% of total number, while in 2017 the rate increased up to 19,6%.
