The National Statistics Office recently published data revealing that Georgia saw a significant decline in poverty in 2024, with the national absolute poverty rate dropping to 9.4%, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous year.
The downward trend was applicable to every demographic. The poverty rate among children under 18 saw the sharpest decline, falling 4.0 percentage points to 12.1%. For adults aged18 to 64, the rate dropped to 9.3% (-2.1 points), while seniors aged 65 and older experienced a more modest decline to 6.7% (-1.3 points).
“This is the first time we’ve seen across-the-board improvements in both urban and rural areas, and in every age group,”the statistics agency noted.
Geographic disparities also decreased. In urban areas, absolute poverty declined by1.6 percentage points to 7.8%, while rural areas saw a steeper improvement—3.7 points down, landing at 11.9%.
The gap between genders remained but both men and women benefited from identical 2.4-point improvements. In 2024, 9.0% of women and 9.8% of men lived below the absolute poverty line.
In addition to absolute poverty, relative poverty also changed. The share of the population living on less than 60% of median consumption fell by 0.9 percentage points, reaching 18.9%, while those below 40% of median consumption dropped by 0.7 points, to 6.7%.
Economic inequality also went downward, with the Gini coefficient, a primary measure of income distribution decreasing by 0.2.
“These figures suggest not only a reduction in poverty, but also a slight closing of the income gap,” analysts at the agency said, adding, “Sustaining this momentum will depend on targeted policies and continued economic stability.”
