CRRC, ARISC, and American Councils are pleased to announce the 9th session of the Spring 2025 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!
This week’s session will be in hybrid format in-person at the CRRC Georgia office (Chavchavadze Ave. 5, Tbilisi, Georgia, 0179) and online via Zoom.
“The Georgian Economic Paradox: Why is Georgia Experiencing Mass Emigration Amid Increasing GDP, Growing Exports, and Falling Unemployment?”
Levan Nadibaidze
May 7, 2025 at 18:30 Tbilisi time (10:30 EST)
Georgia’s economy has been posting impressive growth: real GDP more than doubled between 2010 and 2024, while exports grew more than fourfold. Average real wages grew 20% between 2018 and 2023, while real median wages grew even more, 28%. Unemployment, though still very high by developed world standards, fell by nearly half: from 27% in 2010 to 14% in 2024. And Porsche sales increased more than 10x between 2017 and 2024. Yet, while all this is happening, Georgian citizens are fleeing the country in droves: 316 thousand left between 2012 and 2024 (9% of the population!), of them half in 2021-2024. Why?
Join us for a discussion of:
— Why a lack of jobs is Georgia’s main economic problem, why 33% and not 14% is the real indicator of the country’s unemployment, and why almost half of economic growth since 2017 either created few jobs or outright destroyed them;
— Why growth in Georgia is mostly for those who live in Tbilisi and Batumi and/or own companies;
— Why Georgia’s economy is as primitive today as it was in 2010 and why this is unlikely to change;
— How the Georgians leaving the country are helping grow the economy through their departures;
— And how all of this is connected with the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the mass post-2022 arrival of Russian citizens in Georgia.
Levan Nadibaidze is a strategy consultant. Formerly with the NYC office of the consultancy McKinsey & Co and the mayoral administration of Michael Bloomberg, he runs a Tbilisi-based practice focusing on governance, economic development, and large-scale transformations. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MA in Comparative History from Central European University.
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Works-in-Progress is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the CRRC office at Chavchavadze Ave. 5 and online. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) Georgia, the American Councils for International Education, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.
In observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, the talks will not be recorded, and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing recordings as well or citing anything expressed therein in the press without explicit permission. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC, ARISC or of American Councils.
