Demographics of Georgia (country)


The demographic features of the population of Georgia include population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Population size and structure

The demographic situation in Georgia, like that of some other former Soviet republics, has been characterized by two prominent features since independence: decline in total population and significant "Georgianization" of the ethnic composition. The proportion of ethnic Georgians increased by full 10 percentage points between 1989 and 2002, rising from 73.7% to 83.7% of the population. This occurred due to two migratory movements: Georgians living and working in other Soviet republics returned to their homeland, while other nationalities left Georgia.
While Georgia was part of the Soviet Union the population grew steadily, rising from less than 4 million in the 1950s to a peak of 5.5 million in 1992. From 1992 the population began to decline sharply due to civil war and economic crisis driven mass migration throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. By 2013, the population has stabilized around 3.7 million. The 2002 population census in Georgia revealed a net migration loss of more than one million persons, or 20% of the population, since the early 1990s, confirmed by other studies. Other factors of the population decline include net birth-death deficits in the period 1995–2010 and the exclusion of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region from the statistics since 1994, which population was estimated in 2005 at 178,000 and 49,200, respectively.
Georgia was named among the highest-emigration countries in the world in a 2007 World Bank report. Russia received by far most migrants from Georgia. According to United Nations data this totalled to 625 thousand by 2000, which has declined to 450 thousand by 2019. Initially the out-migration was driven by non-Georgian ethnicities, but due to the war and crisis ridden 1990s, and the subsequent bad economic outlook, increasing numbers of Georgians emigrated as well. The 1989 census recorded 341,000 ethnic Russians, or 6.3 per cent of the population, which declined to 26,453 by 2014. The 2010 Russian census recorded about 158,000 ethnic Georgians living in Russia,

Data correction

The 2014 census, executed in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, found a population gap of approximately 700,000 compared to the 2014 data from the National Statistical Office of Georgia, Geostat, which was cumulatively built on the 2002 census. Consecutive research estimated the 2002 census to be inflated by 8 to 9 percent, which affected the annually updated population estimates in subsequent years. One explanation put forward by UNFPA is that families of emigrants continued to list them in 2002 as residents for fear of losing certain rights or benefits. Other factors that distorted the demographic data included a lack of quality in the registration system of migration, births, deaths and marriages. It was not until around 2010 that parts of the system became reliable again. With the support of the UNFPA, the demographic data of the period 1994–2014 has been retro-projected. The results of the project were presented and published in 2018. Based on this back-projection Geostat has corrected its data for these years, both in its annual publications starting from 2018, and its public access database.

Structure of the population

Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total1 790 6001 929 6003 720 200
0–4141 300131 900273 200
5–9134 600124 300258 900
10–14118 500106 200224 700
15–19109 10096 500205 600
20–24115 400104 000219 400
25–29129 700126 100255 800
30–34136 000135 100271 100
35–39126 500127 600254 100
40–44119 100121 400240 500
45–49115 100119 100234 200
50–54111 800121 300233 100
55–59120 800139 800260 600
60–64102 500129 300231 800
65–6980 800112 800193 600
70–7451 30080 200131 500
75–7936 10064 800100 900
80–8428 90058 70087 600
85+13 00030 60043 600
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–14394 400362 400756 800
15–641 186 0001 220 2002 406 200
65+210 100347 100557 200

Note: 1993–1994 drop is exclusion of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region from population statistics.

Vital statistics

Notable events in Georgian demographics:
Sources: United Nations, Demoscope, GeoStat

Births and deaths

Total area

Population per 1 Jan.Live births1Deaths1Natural change1Crude birth rate Crude death rate Natural change Crude migration change Fertility rates
19503,528,00082,90027,00055,90023.57.715.9
19513,585,00086,80026,90059,90024.27.516.7−0.5
19523,646,00085,70026,60059,10023.57.316.20.8
19533,710,00087,20026,30060,90023.57.116.41.2
19543,775,00091,40026,00065,40024.26.917.30.2
19553,839,00092,50025,70066,80024.16.717.4−0.4
19563,904,00089,80026,50063,30023.06.816.20.7
19573,967,00089,70027,00062,70022.66.815.80.3
19584,031,00093,10027,40065,70023.16.816.3−0.2
19594,044,00098,30027,40070,90024.06.717.3−14.3
19604,129,000102,86627,01551,86624.76.518.22.82.65
19614,190,000104,42927,62153,42924.76.518.2−3.42.65
19624,258,000101,71730,39451,71723.77.116.6−0.42.63
19634,325,000100,32629,62051,32623.06.816.2−0.52.62
19644,389,00097,43329,70848,43322.06.715.3−0.52.62
19654,450,00094,98731,29146,98721.27.014.2−0.32.60
19664,505,00092,02630,38944,02620.36.713.6−1.22.57
19674,556,00089,30232,90442,30219.57.212.3−1.02.53
19684,598,00089,66032,41643,66019.47.012.4−3.22.52
19694,640,00087,06935,16941,06918.77.511.2−2.12.45
19704,674,00090,20734,28345,20719.27.311.9−4.62.62
19714,729,00090,39635,32545,39619.07.411.60.22.61
19724,778,00086,40236,40941,40218.07.610.402.53
19734,818,00088,57735,91144,57718.37.410.9−2.52.58
19744,856,00089,76137,14545,76118.47.610.8−2.92.59
19754,895,00089,71239,29245,71218.38.010.3−2.32.52
19764,920,00090,60538,87546,60518.37.910.4−5.32.52
19774,960,00089,02840,13945,02817.98.19.8−1.72.33
19784,986,00088,76640,23945,76617.88.19.8−4.62.31
19794,993,00089,80341,90747,89617.88.49.5−8.12.34
19805,029,00089,45843,34646,11217.68.69.1−1.92.26
19815,071,00092,50143,96148,54018.18.69.5−1.12.29
19825,100,00091,78442,73449,05017.98.49.6−3.92.25
19835,134,00092,66043,30149,35918.08.49.6−2.92.20
19845,167,00095,84145,78750,05418.58.89.7−3.32.24
19855,230,00097,73946,15351,58618.78.89.92.32.27
19865,234,00098,15546,35451,80118.78.89.9−9.12.26
19875,266,00094,59546,33248,26317.88.79.1−3.02.19
19885,397,00091,90547,54444,36117.18.98.316.62.13
19895,401,00091,13847,07744,06116.88.78.1−7.42.15
19905,424,00092,81550,72143,89517.19.38.1−3.82.29
19915,453,00089,09152,41636,67516.39.66.7−1.42.07
19925,467,00072,63155,07617,55513.410.23.2−0.61.72
19935,346,00055,59456,270−67611.511.6−0.1−22.0

1Births and deaths until 1959 are estimates.