The share of informal employees in non-agricultural sector in Georgia is 36.2%, which is an increase of 3.7% on the same period last year. The informal employment rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
According to Statistics department, the share of informal employment rurally is 40% and 34.6% in urban areas. The annual rate was increased by 4.2% in rural areas and by 1.4% in urban areas.
It is noteworthy, that the Statistics department does not include in calculations the population employed in the agriculture sector, which would further change the informal employment rate in the country.
The rate of informally employed male in Georgia is higher than female. In particular, in 2018, the rate of informal employment was 41.5% male and 29% female.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 2 billion people are employed informally in the world and most in developing countries, 61% of the employed people are engaged in informal employment and agricultural sector is also excluded from this data.
In Africa, informal employment is 85%, in Asia is 68%, in Europe and Central Asia – 25.1%.
In 2018 unemployment rate in Georgia decreased by 1.2% points to 2017 and assumed 12.7%.