Study: 1.4 million Georgians left the country in 2002-17

About 1.4 million Georgians have left the country between 2002 and 2017, a study conducted by the NGO Society and Banks with the support of the Ilia University Financial Education Centre reads.

About 20 per cent of those who have left country have a higher education, are young and they could have contributed to the development of the state economy”, the study says.

The study reads that the workforce is decreasing in the country from year to year.

The reasons are low birth rate, increased ageing rate and migration,” the study reports.

The study says that between 1995 and 2002 the birth rate in the country was decreasing by three per cent annually, which led to a reduction of the number of people who should have been engaged in economic activities.

The whole portion of people aged 65 and over was increasing by at average 0.4 per cent between 2010 and 2017 and amounted to 14,6 per cent of the whole population in 2017, while the data for the other world countries is about 8,7 per cent.”

The recommendations offered by the NGO are as follows:

• Jobs should be created.
• More attention should be paid to highly productive sectors.
• Steps should be taken to return youth currently living and working abroad.
• The existing education system should be improved.