2023 data: number of Georgian citizens staying abroad down 62%
The number of Georgian citizens staying abroad decreased in 2023 by 27,950 people, marking a 62.1 percent reduction from the previous year. Photo: Geostat
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The number of Georgian citizens staying abroad decreased in 2023 by 27,950 people, marking a 62.1 percent reduction from the previous year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Tuesday in latest data on border crossings.
The Ministry added the number of citizens leaving the country had exceeded the number of arrivals by 44,985 people in 2022.
During 2023, the number of Georgian nationals crossing the border to leave the country exceeded the number of citizens crossing the state boundary to return by 17,035 people, the Ministry said.
The figures also show more Russian citizens left Georgia last year than entered the country in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine.
Specifically, 1,856,237 arrivals from Russia were recorded last year, while 1,887,223 Russian citizens left Georgia. Accordingly, 30,986 more Russian nationals left the country than entered in 2023, meaning the total number of Russian citizens staying in Georgia decreased by almost 31,000.
Georgia’s population was 3.7 million according to the last census. The National Statistics Office said in its latest update the country’s population increased by 1.3 percent compared to 2021 and reached 3,736,400 as of January 1, 2023.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs on Monday said the number of border crossings in Georgia totalled 7,180,916 in the third quarter of 2023, of which 76 percent were carried out by foreign citizens and 24 percent by Georgian nationals.
The Public Service Development Agency of Georgia on Tuesday said it had handed over the basic domestic signatory certificates to the International Civil Aviation Organisation to guarantee the validity of national biometric passports and electronic identity cards and simplifying border crossing procedures.
Citizens of over 60 countries including Georgia will be required to apply for receiving authorisation from the European Travel Information and Authorisation System if they want to visit much of Europe starting in November.
Georgia’s population increased by 1.3 percent compared to 2021 and reached 3,736,400 people as of January 1, 2023 the National Statistics Office of Georgia said on Thursday in its latest update.
Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili on Tuesday said 2023 had been a “particularly successful” year for the domestic tourism and aviation industry, with figures recording more than six million passengers received at the three international airports of the country.