Country Comments

Georgia has almost twice as many citizens than what is considered sustainable. Georgians live very modestly. Georgia was a very industrialized country which has left a legacy of toxic waste. It is also known for its very poor air quality. In 2016, when the International Energy Agency released a report on air pollution (based on data from 2012), it named Georgia as having the highest mortality rate in the world caused by air pollution, with close to 300 deaths per 100,000 people. By comparison, China, which is known for the bad air quality in its cities, reported slightly over 150 deaths per 100,000 people.

There is a significant gender gap in labour force participation with the gender wage gap reaching 35 per cent. Women’s entrepreneurship is limited. Women’s political participation is low with women only constituting 11 per cent of parliamentarians in the national and local governments. Violence against women and girls in Georgia is also a recognized public concern. (1)

For the past five year fertility rates have trended at replacement. With emigration annually in excess of 10,000 citizens since the 1990’s Georgia has seen its population gradually decline from a peak of approximately five and one half million citizens to roughly four million today. Even with this decline its economy continues to do extremely well seeing economic production increase an average of 6% annually the past decade of 2009-2019

(1) UN Women: https://eca.unwomen.org/en/where-we-are/georgia