Labour Migration
Emigration for work, return migration, remittances and legal labour migration schemes.
Last updated: 3 October 2026
Overview
Migration shapes Georgia's labour market and household incomes. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians live and work abroad, and money transfers from them are a major source of household income. Emigration rose sharply in 2023 and fell back in 2024. Georgia has developed legal labour migration schemes with EU countries, but demand for places far exceeds supply.
Key figures
Emigration and return
| Indicator | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Emigrants, 2023 | 245,064 (+95.6% on 2022) | Geostat, via Civil.ge (2024) |
| Emigrants, 2024 | 121,425 (−50.5% on 2023) | Geostat (2025) |
| Share of 2024 emigrants of working age | 85.8% | Geostat (2025) |
| Share of 2024 emigrants who were Georgian citizens | 53.2% | Geostat (2025) |
| Citizens who left / returned, 2014–2023 | 815,608 / 550,919 | Geostat, via IDFI |
Remittances
| Origin | Amount | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Total | USD 3.36 billion | — |
| United States | USD 573 million | +24% |
| Italy | USD 567 million | +8% |
| Russia | USD 541 million | −65% |
| EU countries combined | — | +10.2% |
Source: National Bank of Georgia, via 1TV (2025) and FactCheck Georgia (2025).
Transfers from Russia had reached a record of more than USD 2 billion in 2022 (JAMnews, 2023).
Georgia, the region and the EU
| Country or area | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Tajikistan | 37.8 | 47.2 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 18.9 | 17.6 |
| Georgia | 13.7 | 11.9 |
| Moldova | 12.0 | 10.5 |
| Ukraine | 8.3 | 6.3 |
| Armenia | 6.4 | 4.9 |
| Azerbaijan | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| European Union | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators.
Remittances are a larger share of Georgia's economy than of any EU member state's, and larger than in Armenia or Azerbaijan, though well below the Central Asian economies most dependent on them.
Legal labour migration
Georgia operates legal labour migration schemes with EU countries, including seasonal work in Germany. Interest far exceeds the places available: about 95,000 Georgians applied for 300 seasonal jobs in Germany through an online platform in 2021 (JAMnews, 2021), and Germany later raised its quota for Georgian harvest workers (Civil.ge, 2021). Georgia and Germany have also discussed a migration and mobility agreement (1TV, 2024). In 2025 the Labour Inspection Service carried out 224 inspections relating to labour migration and drew up 62 administrative offence reports (Parliament of Georgia, 2026).
Research map
- IDFI (2024) — statistics of migration of Georgian citizens. idfi.ge
- Geostat (2025) — number of population as of 1 January 2025, including migration. geostat.ge
- PMCG Research — migration from Georgia, based on UN DESA data. pmcg-i.com
- European Training Foundation — skills for fair, efficient labour migration. etf.europa.eu
- FactCheck Georgia (2025) — Russia fell to third place in remittance inflows. factcheck.ge
Data gaps
- Official data on Georgians working abroad by country, sector and legal status are limited.
- The outcomes of legal labour migration schemes — earnings, return and reintegration — are not published systematically.
- Remittance data do not distinguish transfers by migrants for work from other transfers.
Related across the PHIG network
Labour migration and health migration are studied side by side in the PHIG network.
- PHIG — Health and Migration Observatory and country assessments — the health side of migration: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus 2025 regional page.
- PHIG — Georgia country assessment — migration and health indicators for Georgia.
- GMJ Academy — Refugee and Migrant Health competency training (WHO Global Competency Standards, delivered by PHIG).
GILS is a programme of the Public Health Institute of Georgia; see the PHIG network.
GILS analyses on this topic
Remittances Are Holding Georgia Together — But For How Long?Remittances have long been one of Georgia's largest sources of foreign income. Between 2021 and 2024 their composition changed dramatically: transfers from Russia surged five-fold in 2022 and…
How Many Georgians Live Abroad? What the Migration Data Actually Show — and Why the Labour Market Should CareClaims that 1.5 million Georgians work abroad circulate widely, but they are not supported by official data. United Nations estimates put the number of people born in Georgia…
Legal Labour Migration from Georgia: 90,000 Applicants, a Few Thousand Places — Lessons from the Germany Seasonal SchemeThe European Training Foundation's work on "skills for fair, efficient labour migration" places skills at the centre of migration policy. Georgia's own experience shows why. When a seasonal…Sources for this page
- ETF–Eurofound (2024). Working life in Georgia. etf.europa.eu
- Geostat (2025). Number of population as of 1 January 2025. www.geostat.ge
- Civil.ge (2024). Emigration from Georgia nearly doubled in 2023. civil.ge
- IDFI (2024). Statistics of migration of Georgian citizens. idfi.ge
- 1TV (2025). NBG: money transfers from Russia decreased by 64.6% in 2024. 1tv.ge
- JAMnews (2023). Record transfers from Russia in 2022. jam-news.net
- JAMnews (2021). 95k Georgians apply for 300 seasonal jobs in Germany. jam-news.net
- Civil.ge (2021). Germany allows tenfold rise of quota for Georgian harvest workers. civil.ge
- 1TV (2024). Georgia–Germany agreement on migration and mobility. 1tv.ge
- Parliament of Georgia (2026). Labour Inspection Service report. parliament.ge
Figures are from the GILS Evidence Register and the official sources shown. GILS is independent of government, trade unions, employers' organisations and the ILO.