Kobakhidze Addresses Migration and Demographics in Parliament
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze appeared before Parliament for an interpellation hearing focused on migration, the economy, and the country's changing demographics.
Kobakhidze emphasized that foreign students are a vital pillar of the Georgian economy. He reported that there are currently 37,000 foreign students in Georgia, with the vast majority holding study residence permits.
"Foreign students alone bring 300 million GEL into the budget every year, and more than 10,000 jobs have been created in Georgia thanks to foreign students," Kobakhidze stated. He argued that refusing this revenue would be "wrong from the perspective of the country's economic interests."
The Prime Minister also addressed the need for foreign labor to sustain the national infrastructure. "There is a serious shortage of labor in many sectors in Georgia, and without foreign workers, many projects would have had to be stopped," he explained, adding that there is currently a lack of Georgian workers willing to fill these specific roles.
According to Kobakhidze, Russian citizens account for 29.9% of residence permit holders, adding that approximately 30% of them are ethnic Georgians. Indian nationals make up 22.3% -primarily students-followed by Azerbaijani citizens at 6.3%. Ukrainian citizens account for 5.9%, while an additional 25,000 Ukrainians are residing in Georgia under refugee status.
"Citizens of 96 countries enjoy the possibility of staying in Georgia for up to 1 year without a residence permit," the Prime Minister noted, specifying that these are largely European, Central Asian, and Gulf nations. He estimated the number of illegal migrants at approximately 20,000, promising refined data by April.
The Prime Minister announced a priority shift regarding the social allowance database, which has not been substantially reviewed since a moratorium was placed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The database needs to be reviewed; it is impossible for the number of social assistance recipients to increase under conditions where poverty has been halved," Kobakhidze said. He claimed a preliminary analysis showed that 8% of the 700,000 to 800,000 recipients are actually "well-off."
On the topic of demography, Kobakhidze described the declining birth rate for first and second children as "catastrophic," noting that births of first children nearly halved between 2014 and 2024. He attributed this trend to ideological shifts rather than economic ones.
"Everywhere liberal ideology has spread intensively, there are problems," he stated, linking the decline to "LGBT propaganda" and a decrease in interest in marriage. He praised the recently adopted law on family values as a necessary step to "confront these worldview challenges."
