Georgia experiences less emigrants/immigrants, shows 2014 Census data

Initial data from the 2014 Census reveals less people were emigrating from Georgia, and fewer were also coming in.

In 2014 there were 88,704 emigrants - a 6.7 percent decrease on 2013, while the number of immigrants coming into Georgia reached 82,161 year-on-year (y/y) – a decrease of 11.1 percent.

This information comes from preliminary Census data released by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

In 2014 the net migration (difference between the number of emigrants and immigrants) was negative (-6,543).

Geostat representative Paata Shavishvili explained the data was not collected according to citizenship, where the term ‘emigrants’ covered any person (foreigner or local) who had lived in Georgia for 12 months or more and six months had passed since they left the country.

"Such people could be, for example, those Russians who used to live in Georgia for at least one year, then left Georgia and have lived in another country for at least six months.”

As for ‘immigrants’, the same methodology was used, said Shavishvili.

"For example, those Georgians who used to live in Greece for more than one year and returned to Georgia and have lived here for six months already are also deemed as immigrants. Immigrants can also be foreigners who came to Georgia and now live here,” Shavishvili explained.

Countries whose citizens emigrated/immigrated to Georgia in 2014 were recorded as coming from the Russian Federation, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Iraq, the US, Greece, Iran and others.

Georgia has a lot of ethnic minorities from Azerbaijan and Armenia, so intensive moving of these people can be explained in the emigration/immigration data.

The Census data revealed the majority of emigrants were Georgian males (31.8 percent), followed by Georgian females (36.1 percent). Just over 35 percent of foreign males and 34 percent of foreign females emigrated from Georgia in the past year.

Furthermore, the majority of immigrants were Georgian females (39.4), followed by males (34.1 percent), while 35.7 percent of immigrants were foreigner males and 34.6 percent were foreign females.

This information was part of preliminary data released by Geostat for the first time in 12 years.

The new Census revealed Georgia’s population had decreased by 14.7 percent from 2002 to 2014. Geostat noted this could be the result of high emigration rates.

GeoStat is currently reviewing the Census 2014 data that was obtained during the field work held in November 2014. Geostat was responsible for carrying out the survey, which saw about 12,300 employees go door-to-door and survey every citizen and foreign resident in Georgia.

Surveying took place from November 5-19, 2014 across the country, with the exception of Georgia’s two breakaway regions Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).