Georgia

Key findings in 2016

Percentage of respondents that agree or strongly agree with the following statements	Georgia	Transition region average	Germany	Italy
Economic situation better than 4 years ago	16	24	33	7
Political situation better than 4 years ago	21	28	17	9
Household lives better than 4 years ago	25	29	28	10
There is less corruption than 4 years ago	29	23	16	10
Satisfied with personal financial situation	19	31	55	33

Satisfaction with the situation at the country level and with personal circumstances

About 16 and 21 per cent of respondents, respectively, believe that the economic and political situation in Georgia was better in 2016 than four years prior to the survey. These figures are substantially higher than the corresponding averages for the region known as eastern Europe and the Caucasus (EEC), albeit still lower than the overall averages for the transition region. In addition, 29 per cent of interviewed Georgians think that there was less corruption in 2016 than four years before the survey, a figure higher than the averages for EEC, the transition region, Germany and Italy (at 16, 23, 16 and 10 per cent, respectively), but lower by 49 percentage points relative to 2010.

A quarter of interviewed respondents believe that their households lived better in 2016 than they did four years before the survey. In addition, 19 per cent of respondents report that they are satisfied with their current personal financial situation, a number significantly below the transition region average of 31 per cent but in line with the regional average of 17 per cent for EEC.

Following an increase by 17 percentage points relative to 2010 levels, the percentage of Georgians who are satisfied with their life (42 per cent) is now in line with the transition region average and the corresponding figure for Italy (43 and 42 per cent, respectively). Life satisfaction is nevertheless still below Germany’s level.

While the level of optimism about future generations has fallen by 12 percentage points since the last survey, from 66 per cent in 2010 to 54 per cent in 2016, it is still well above the average for the transition region, Germany and Italy (50, 46 and 22 per cent, respectively).

 

Attitudes towards democracy and the market economy

53 per cent of Georgian respondents in 2016 said that democracy is “preferable to any other form of political system”, while 35 per cent of the interviewed population favoured and supported the market economy. While these figures are in line with the transition region average, they are well below the corresponding values for Germany. They also represent a steep decline relative to 2010 data, which show that 71 and 42 per cent of respondents supported democracy and a market economy at that time, respectively. In addition, 2016 data show that a substantial proportion of respondents think that “for people like me, it does not matter” which political (34 per cent) or economic (45 per cent) system is in place.

When asked which democratic institutions existed in Georgia, only 43 per cent of respondents indicated that freedom of speech and gender equality are in place in the country, followed by peace and stability and an independent press, at 40 and 35 per cent, respectively. The extent to which Georgians agree that other democratic institutions exist in their country is rather low, with only about a quarter of respondents reporting that they believe free elections, law and order and a fair justice system are guaranteed in Georgia.

 

Priorities for government spending

A third of Georgian respondents think that additional government spending on health care should be the main funding priority, which is 10 percentage points higher than the averages for both western European comparators. This preference is stronger among the lower income groups, male respondents and those who live in rural areas. About 23 and 20 per cent of respondents would also like to see extra government expenditure on education and helping the poor, respectively. Additional results show that around 77 and 74 per cent of Georgian respondents would be willing to contribute more to improve the quality of the public health system and public education, respectively.

 

Sources of information

The main daily sources of information for Georgians are the television and the radio, followed each day by 76 per cent of the population, and discussions with family, friends or colleagues, mentioned by 55 per cent of respondents. Internet and social media usage has increased significantly since 2010, from 7 to 36 per cent, but still shows an urban and rural divide, with 47 per cent of respondents from urban areas reporting daily usage, in contrast to only 26 per cent of those residing in rural areas. While the television and the radio are the predominant news sources among people aged 40 and over, internet and social media are the preferred source of news for the younger cohort: over 50 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 39 report using the web at least once a day. Newspapers and magazines are read on a daily basis by approximately 4 per cent of the interviewed respondents, well below the corresponding figures for the EEC, the transition region, Germany and Italy.

 

Self-assessed health

Only 32 per cent of Georgian respondents report a positive self-assessment of their health, the lowest figure in the entire transition region, 22 percentage points below the average for the region and 36 and 22 percentage points lower than the corresponding values for Germany and Italy, respectively. In addition, this figure is virtually unchanged relative to 2010. The greatest degree of variation is registered across age groups, while respondents aged 60 and over and those aged between 40 and 59 have the lowest rates of positive health self-assessments, at only 12 and 21 per cent, respectively.

 

Quality of public services

The majority of Georgian respondents report that they are satisfied with the general quality of public services in their country, with the only exceptions being the postal service and local roads. The figures range from 87 per cent of satisfied users of pipeline gas to a 64 per cent satisfaction rate with the utilisation of water services. In addition, more than 80 per cent of interviewed respondents are satisfied with the quality of electricity and the telephone lines. Even though these values are just slightly below the corresponding figures for the transition region as a whole and for Germany, the satisfaction rates for water services and the telephone lines (as well as the postal service) are among the lowest in the transition region.

 

Social and economic mobility

When respondents were asked from a list of options what they thought were the most important factors for success in life in their country, 63 per cent of Georgians chose “effort and hard work”, the fourth highest result for that response option in the transition region. Around 20 per cent chose “intelligence and skills”, while another 15 per cent opted for “political connections”.

 

Attitudes towards women

86 per cent of interviewed respondents think it important for their daughter to achieve a university education. Nevertheless, only 76 and 64 per cent of female and male respondents believe that women are as competent as men to be business executives, respectively, two of the lowest values in the transition region, and 37 and 49 per cent of women and men, respectively, think that men make better political leaders than women. In addition, around 45 per cent of respondents of either gender think that a woman should do the household chores, even if her husband is not working, and around 63 per cent of them favour a traditional family arrangement where the man works and the woman takes care of the house and children.