A. Recent Trends in Poverty

۱٫ Income poverty.

Georgia’s strong economic performance has had a limited positive impact on poverty reduction because growth was largely driven by increases in labor productivity and attendant income growth was concentrated among the top 10% of income earners. The percentage of the population living below the relative poverty line decreased from 24.6% in 2004 to 21.4% in 2013. 2 The poverty headcount ratio based on the absolute poverty line declined from 18.0% in 2006 to 14.8% in 2012, and the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty fell from 5.4% to 3.7% over the same period.3 So-called registered poverty, which is the percentage of the population officially registered as poor, rose from 6.4% in 2007 to 9.7% in 2013. The poverty headcount ratio at $2.0 a day at purchasing power parity declined from 36.7% in 2003 to 35.6% in 2010, but the percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day at purchasing power parity increased from 17.7% to 18.0% during the same period. 4 With the rate of officially recorded unemployment at 11.5% in 2003, 15.0% in 2012, and 14.6% in 2013, the reduction in poverty mostly resulted from declines in food prices in 2012 and increases in social transfers, such as social assistance allowances and old-age pensions, and remittance inflows.

۲٫ Non-income poverty.

Progress in reducing non-income poverty has been mixed. The under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) dropped from 35.7 in 2000 to 13.1 in 2013. The net primary school enrollment rate rose from 89.8% in 2004 to 98.3% in 2012. The percentage of the population with access to an improved water source increased from 89.2% in 2000 to 98.7% in 2012, and life expectancy rose from 71.6 years to 73.9 years over the same period. However, the maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births) decreased from 60 in 2000 to 41 in 2013 according to the World Bank’s modeled estimates. 5 The proportion of the population with access to improved sanitation facilities remained unchanged at about 95% during this period (footnote 4).