Demographic statistics in Georgia | Results from international research

On June 1, the Georgian Center for Population Research (GCPR) and the French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), with support from the French Embassy in Georgia, held a seminar on mortality- and fertility-related issues in Georgia. Irina Badurashvili from GCPR and France Meslé, Jacques Vallin and Geraldine Duthé from INED presented the results of their collaborative research dealing with mortality trends and increased male sex ratio at birth.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and ensuing violent conflicts, Georgia experienced an increase in migration and a deterioration of the civil registration system. Consequently, yearly population counts produced by the Georgian Department for Statistics were considered unreliable and independent experts started producing their own estimates of demographic indicators based on data from different sources (e.g. the Civil Register, the Ministry of Health and data collected through surveys).

GCPR has corrected official infant mortality rates based on the Georgian Reproductive and Health Surveys of 1999 and 2005, and corrected official statistics on deaths and populations over the last years. As a result, the life expectancy at birth in Georgia is estimated to be 68.8 years for males and 76.7 years for females for 2006, which is somewhat lower than certified Georgian statistics.

Corrected life expectancy trends at birth allows for reliable comparisons between the Caucasus and other countries. According to GCPR’s research, both Georgia and Armenia show a positive life expectancy trend in comparison with for example Russia, but a negative trend in comparison with other European countries. Comparisons of population figures between Georgia and most European and post-Soviet countries can be found on INED’s website.

Even though the quality of statistical data in Georgia has improved significantly over the years, official numbers for sex ratio at birth and estimates of infant deaths still remain in doubt. You can read more about sex ratios in Georgia here on the blog and on GCPR’s website.

On GCPR’s website you will also find information about research projects and a large amount of data on demographics in Georgia.