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Thousands of young people leave Georgia every year, mainly for Western countries, in search of better economic opportunities. Amid questions over the country’s European path, AnewZ spoke with Georgian emigrants about what could influence their decision to return.
Ivane Aleksaia, 24, left Georgia in early 2025 and moved to Latvia. Speaking to AnewZ by phone in September, he said he had compared living conditions in Europe, Latvia and Georgia, and found opportunities in Europe more favorable for a future career in finance.
According to Georgia’s National Statistics Office, about 53,000 people aged 15 to 34 left the country in 2025. The figure includes both Georgian citizens and foreign nationals.
Georgia recorded a net increase in migration among its citizens across all age groups in 2024 and 2025. Apart from 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first positive figure in a decade. Even so, leaving the country remains an attractive option for some young people.
In a 2022 survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers, 30 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 said going abroad for work in the next 12 months was either likely or very likely.
Pay and the cost of living
For Ivane, Latvia’s capital, Riga, offered broader opportunities in financial technology as well as more affordable living costs than Tbilisi. He said he lived in the city center and that rent for the same apartment would be higher in Tbilisi.
Ivane said food prices were already high when he left Georgia two years earlier, and that what friends now told him about the cost of everyday goods surprised him. According to him, basic foods, including milk and meat, have become more expensive.
According to an analysis by international payments company Wise, as of October the average monthly cost of living was $1,570 in Riga and $1,321 in Tbilisi. However, average monthly rent was $669 in Tbilisi, compared with $569 in Riga.
Data from job-search platform Glassdoor puts the average monthly salary for financial analysts with one to three years of experience in Tbilisi at between $326 and $1,151. In Riga, the average is about $2,252.
Georgia’s private-sector minimum wage was last updated in 1999 and currently stands at $7.50 (20 lari) a month.
Political situation also affects young people’s decisions to return
AnewZ contacted the Georgian government about measures to reduce youth emigration but received no response. The ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012, has previously acknowledged the demographic challenges facing the country and stressed the need for action.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has previously linked emigration to visa-free travel with the European Union. Zaza Lominadze, a Georgian Dream lawmaker and chair of parliament’s Health and Social Issues Committee, said in February that demographic policy was a key priority for the country’s leadership. He said a working group would be established within the committee to improve the socioeconomic conditions of families with children.
Ivane said that, alongside economic factors, the political situation—which he called “ridiculous”—had also prompted him to leave. Two other Georgians in their 20s, currently working in European Union countries and interviewed by AnewZ, said the political situation also affected their decision about whether to return. Both requested anonymity due to concerns about their future.
A 26-year-old interviewee who left Georgia in 2023 and was formerly a member of one of the country’s opposition parties said whether he would return depended on Georgia getting back on a European path. Another interviewee, a 29-year-old working in the hospitality sector in Germany, said he would start considering a return when Georgia joins the European Union.
Georgia received candidate status for European Union membership in late 2023. However, after the government adopted a law restricting foreign funding for non-governmental organizations, the European Union said in 2024 that the country’s path to membership had “effectively come to a halt.”
The Georgian government says the rules ensure transparency in funding for non-governmental organizations and protect the country from foreign interference. In early October, Germany’s Konrad Adenauer and Friedrich Naumann foundations halted their activities in Georgia, citing the restrictive funding environment created by the government.
In response, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said both foundations were linked to German political parties and should not carry out a political mission in Georgia.
Despite tensions in relations with the European Union, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has repeatedly said Georgia will join the bloc by 2030. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on October 6 that Georgia was “a candidate country only on paper.”
Ivane said he saw no practical reason to return to Georgia under the current circumstances. He said his family and friends were the main reason he would want to go back: “I miss them. I want to be with them. My siblings, my parents and the people I know there are all there.”
