“In 2012, more than 1.1 million people in Georgia were living below the poverty line, a poverty rate of 30%. By 2020, that figure had already fallen to approximately 21%,” said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, addressing parliament under the interpellation procedure.

Responding to a question about the social conditions prevailing in the country, the Prime Minister noted that over the past four years, the poverty rate has fallen further to 9.4%.

“As regards the social situation in the country, it was stated that, if I am not mistaken, 70,000 people earn a salary of less than 600 lari, and that 708,000 people live below the poverty threshold, of whom 190,000 are children under the age of 18. I want to clarify the poverty figures here.

First and foremost, one must recall where we began in 2012. The situation was dire; more than 1.1 million people in Georgia were living below the poverty line. The poverty rate stood at 30%, and by 2020 it had already been reduced to approximately 21% — 21.3% to be precise. Since then, through to 2024, the poverty rate has fallen to 9.4%. More than 1.1 million people were living below the poverty line in Georgia; under our government, that number has come down to 350,000. The past several years have been particularly remarkable in this regard.

The refined figure for 2025 has not yet been published, but based on four years of data, we have succeeded in halving poverty in our country. This is the result of rapid economic growth; our average growth rate over the past five years has been 9.3%. In this respect, we lead the entire European continent and the wider region, and it is this growth that has driven down poverty in Georgia. From more than 1.1 million people below the poverty line, we are now at 350,000,” declared Prime Minister Kobakhidze.

The Prime Minister went on to clarify the figure of 708,000, explaining that these individuals receive social assistance, which does not mean that all of them are living below the poverty line.

“There is a set of statistics calculated according to international methodology, the World Bank methodology, under which 350,000 people in Georgia are living below the poverty line. When the chairman of your party led the government [PM addressed opposition], that figure stood at approximately 800,000, yet no one held him to account for that poverty rate. Some 800,000 people were living below the poverty line in 2020, and no one reproached him for it, because it was our government that had already reduced that figure by 30 percentage points, bringing it down to 21.3%. After 2020, rapid economic growth began, and we have succeeded in reducing the rate further still, to 9.4%,” the Prime Minister stated.