Georgia, situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, is experiencing significant demographic shifts affecting its social and economic development. To address issues like population decline and stagnation, an ageing population, declining birth rates, and increased emigration, the Georgian government must devise and adopt a demographic resilience framework. Taking such an approach will help the country to adapt to demographic changes and cope with unexpected shocks such as natural disasters, economic crises, and pandemics. Ultimately, ensuring demographic resilience is crucial for Georgia to mitigate economic and social risks posed by these demographic trends.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched the Demographic Resilience Programme in 2021 to address challenges by strengthening systems and empowering individuals, communities, and governments to anticipate and respond to demographic changes. These efforts are critical to Georgia’s sustainable development, social stability, and capacity to thrive in the future.

This paper analyzes Georgia’s demographic situation, highlights current and future challenges, and offers guidance on fostering demographic resilience and transforming potential obstacles into sustainable development prospects. That may require measures, for example, to reduce the outflow of people from the country and to make Georgia more attractive (especially for young people) by strengthening human capital and connecting education more closely to labor market needs, thereby avoiding further population decline. Other interventions may demand an increase in women’s participation in economic activity by, among other steps, eliminating the barriers associated with their common role as primary providers of unpaid care and domestic work.