Georgian Population Declines 15% in 12 Years

TBILISI – The National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) on Thursday released statistics that showed Georgia’s population shrank 15 per cent in 2002-2014 to 3.71 million people.

The statistics were compiled from a national census carried out in November 2014.

According to the census, the country lost more than half a million people (657,731) over of its 2002 population of 4,371,535 people. The drop was most severe in the country’s rural population, which shrank an astounding 23, 7 per cent. The country’s urban areas, by contrast, shrank by 7.1 per cent.

The census was carried out in 71 self-governed units and 3,726 settlements across the country. The results revealed a major discrepancy in the Georgia’s gender make-up, with 47.7 per cent male and 52.3 per cent female.

The country’s ethnic communities are comprised of 86.8 per cent Georgians, 6.3 per cent Azeris and 4.5 percent Armenians.

83.4 per cent of the populations are Orthodox Christian, 10.7 per cent are Muslim and 2.9 per cent belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

According to the census, Georgia’s population is aging rapidly. The average age of population increased by 2 years from 2002’s average to 38.1 years. The average age of a male increased from 34.3 to 35.9 years and an average female’s age increased from 37,8 to 40,1 years.

Geostat also noted that the 2014 census does not include information about the populations living in the 1,015 registered settlements in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

By Tamar Svanidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller

Photo: JumpStart Georgia