The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Georgia to implement reforms to tackle youth unemployment. Nearly 30 per cent of people aged 15-24 are without a job in the country, according to World Bank data.
In the IMF's 2026 report on Georgia, it urges the country to focus on supporting successful sectors like the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, and improve vocational education to try and reduce the youth joblessness rate.
The global financial institution said there was a “structural imbalance” between education and training in the country and the jobs available.
More than a third of young Georgians (36 per cent) were overeducated for their job as of 2024, according to the report, while 40 per cent of people who had completed education beyond secondary school were working in mid- to low-skilled roles.
Conversely, the report noted that undereducation, where a person’s schooling and training fall below what is expected for a specific role, was concentrated in Georgia’s growing ICT and finance sectors.
Economic growth is expected to slow to 6.5 per cent in 2026, down from 7.5 per cent in 2025, the IMF said. Growth will settle at five per cent by 2028, the report added.
The forecast rests on the assumption that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran will be resolved soon.
Growth in the first few months of 2026 has been driven by the country’s ICT, transport and education sectors, the IMF added.
These industries were "initially boosted by financial and migrant inflows,” as well as “shifts in regional trade patterns following the war in Ukraine,” the report notes.
The IMF added that the impact of the Middle East conflict on the country of around 3.8 million has so far been limited to reduced income from tourism and higher oil prices.
However, the report noted that “an escalation of the Middle East war could further disrupt tourism inflows from Israel and the Gulf region, raise inflation and tighten financial conditions.”
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Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake has struck Tibet in southwestern China, killing 16 people and injuring 65, while forcing more than 12,000 residents to relocate as rescue teams respond to widespread aftershocks.
Missile and drone attacks have put Saudi Arabia on high alert, disrupting life in Riyadh and testing a new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan as regional tensions escalate.
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Georgia’s Constitutional Court has extended hearings in a case seeking to ban five opposition parties, with proceedings now set to continue until 30 October. The court in Batumi will resume hearings on Monday, 26 October, after missing its original 23 October deadline.
Pakistan and the European Union have agreed to step up counterterrorism cooperation as security concerns over Afghanistan grow and tensions between Islamabad and Kabul persist.
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