Georgia’s National Statistics Office published Q2 2026 LFS data showing continued improvement in employment but persistent regional disparities.
The National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) released the Q2 2026 Labour Force Survey results in late August, providing the most recent systematic snapshot of Georgian labour market conditions. The headline figures show continued improvement from the post-COVID trough: the employment rate rose to 47.8 percent (up from 47.1 percent in Q4 2024), unemployment fell marginally to 13.1 percent, and average monthly wages continued their upward trend, reaching GEL 2,401 in the formal private sector.
The regional dimension of the Q2 data reveals patterns that the national headline figures obscure. Tbilisi’s employment rate stands at 54.2 percent, substantially above the national average and reflecting the concentration of formal sector employment in the capital. By contrast, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti — the least economically developed region — recorded an employment rate of 34.7 percent, with the majority of those employed working in subsistence agriculture. The spread between highest and lowest regional employment rates, at approximately 20 percentage points, has not materially narrowed since 2018.
The youth data in Q2 2026 shows the 15-24 unemployment rate at 17.5 percent nationally, consistent with the 2024 annual figure, with marked variation by region: Tbilisi youth unemployment at 14.1 percent versus 28.4 percent in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. The data also shows that NEET rates — not captured in the standard unemployment statistics — remain elevated in rural areas, with Kakheti reporting a NEET rate of approximately 33 percent for the 15-29 age group.
Gender disaggregation in the Q2 data shows an employment rate gap of 12 percentage points between men (53.4 percent) and women (41.3 percent), consistent with previous periods. The female participation rate has not shown material improvement despite the general improvement in labour market conditions — a finding consistent with the structural barriers to female labour force participation identified in GILS analysis.
GILS Note: Geostat’s quarterly LFS data is the primary input into GILS’s Labour Market Observatory indicators. All figures in the Observatory are updated following each Geostat release. For full regional and sectoral breakdowns, and for comparison with ILO and World Bank data, see the Labour Market Observatory page.
Read the full GILS analysis: https://labour.edu.ge/observatory/