In 2021 the unemployment rate in Georgia increased by 2.1 percentage points compared to 2020 and amounted to 20.6 percent, National Statistics Office (GeoStat) said on Wednesday.

The chart below presents the unemployment rate by 2010-2021 years.

The 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 reached 50.9 percent, while employment rate declined by 0.7 percentage points and amounted to 40.4 percent, the GeoStat noted.

It further said that the share of hired employees was 68.2 percent among employed persons, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous year. 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.

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.

Traditionally, 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 percent. 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, the GeoStat added.