Georgia's young people keep leaving. What would bring them back?

Thousands of young Georgians leave the country each year in search of better economic opportunities, with many moving west. As questions grow over Georgia’s European path, AnewZ spoke to people who have emigrated about what it would take for them to return.

Ivane Aleksaia, 24, left Georgia for Latvia at the start of 2025.

“I compared the living situation throughout Europe, throughout Latvia, throughout Georgia and I decided that, especially for my future in my industry which is finance, the situation looks much better here [in Europe] than in Georgia,” he said, talking by phone to AnewZ in September. 

Ivane is not alone. In 2025, nearly 53,000 people aged 15 to 34 left the country, according to data from Georgia’s National Statistics Office (Geostat)— a figure includes Georgians and foreign nationals.

While the country recorded a net inflow of Georgian nationals of all ages into the country in 2024 and 2025—the first-positive inflow in a decade with the exception of 2020 when Covid-19 struck—leaving the country is still an attractive proposition for many younger Georgians. 

According to a 2022 survey by research network, the Caucasus Research Resource Centre, 30 per cent of 18 to 34 year olds said it was likely or very likely that they would go abroad for work in the next 12 months. 

Higher wages, lower cost of living 

For Ivane, Riga, Latvia’s capital, offered not only more opportunities in his industry, fintech, but also a cheaper cost of living than in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. 

“I’m living in the centre of the city, and the rent is much cheaper than whatever you can find in Tbilisi for the same apartment,” he told AnewZ. 

“When I left Georgia two years ago, the cost of food was already so high. Now everytime I call my friends and they tell me how much things cost, I'm absolutely astonished. It’s insane… just basic things: milk, meat… everything costs much more.” 

According to an analysis by international payment firm Wise, as of October the average monthly cost of living in Riga is $1,570, compared to $1,321 in Tbilisi. 

However, the Wise analysis estimates rent to be more expensive in Tbilisi, coming in at an average of $669 per month, compared to $569 in Riga. 

Job search platform Glassdoor meanwhile records the average monthly salary for financial analysts with one to three year experience in Tbilisi as anything from $326 per month to $1,151, compared to around $2,252 per month on average in Riga. 

Georgia’s private sector minimum wage was last updated in 1999, and currently stands at $7.50 (₾20) per month.

Georgian government response 

AnewZ contacted the Georgian government asking what measures it was taking to address youth emigration, but it didn’t reply.

The country’s ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, has however previously acknowledged the demographic challenges Georgia faces more generally and emphasised the need for action. 

Zaza Lominadze, Georgian Dream MP and Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Health Care and Social Issues Committee, said that demographic policy was a key priority of the country’s leadership at a meeting in February. 

“We have decided to establish a working group within the Committee that will develop recommendations aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of families with children,” he added.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in 2023 attributed the net outflow of people from the country to the introduction of visa-free travel with the European Union. 

“If it were not for the visa-free regime with the European Union, it can be said with certainty that in 2018-21, Georgia would have had a positive, rather than negative, migration balance,” Kobakhidze said, according to regional news outlet JAMnews. 

Questions over European path 

Alongside the country’s economic situation, Ivane also cited Georgia’s political situation, which he described as “ridiculous,” as a motivating factor for leaving.

Two other Georgians in their 20s, both men and currently working in EU countries, that AnewZ spoke to said the country’s political situation was dissuading them from returning. 

Both asked to speak anonymously due to concerns about the possible implications of their comments on their futures in Georgia. 

One, a 26-year-old who left in 2023 and was previously a member of a Georgian opposition party, said whether the country moved back to the “European path,” would determine whether he returned. 

The other, a 29-year-old working in hospitality in Germany, echoed his view.

“I would start thinking most likely [about returning] when Georgia will join the European Union,” he said. 

Georgia was granted EU candidate status in late 2023, but in 2024 the bloc said its path to membership had “de facto paused,” after the Georgian government passed a law restricting foreign funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The Georgian government has argued that the rules ensure transparency around money going to support NGOs and defend the country from foreign interference. 

In early October two German NGOs, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, stopped operating in Georgia, citing the restrictive funding environment created by the Georgian government. 

In response, Georgia’s Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili noted both foundations were affiliated to German political parties and said they shouldn’t be pursuing political missions in Georgia. 

Despite the breakdown in relations with the EU, Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has repeatedly said the country is on track to join the bloc by 2030.

However, the EU has rejected this assessment. “Georgia is a candidate country only on paper,” EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on 6 October. 

For Ivane, while the situation remains as it is in the country,  there are no practical reasons for him to return. Georgia’s remaining pull for him stems from people he has left behind.

“The only thing that keeps me thinking that I want to go back is my family and friends. I miss them. I want to be there with them. I have siblings. I have parents. I have a network of people I know there,” he said. 

Read more from Georgia: 

• European Parliament adopts Georgia resolution, calls for sanctions over opposition party ban
• Georgia's government confident despite EU enlargement freeze
• German foundations halt Georgia work as grants law deepens EU rift

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News Georgia Demographics Migration European Union