According to the National Statistics Service of Georgia, the growth was provided mainly by large cities – Tbilisi and Batumi.
The most noticeable growth was recorded in the capital of Georgia: during the year the population of the capital increased by 33.7 thousand people and reached 1.37 million, i.e. about 35% of the total population of the country. Batumi added another 9.5 thousand residents – now the city is home to 246.3 thousand people, which is more than half of the total population of Adjara, which is about 403 thousand.
Against this background, the regions demonstrate the opposite dynamics. The most significant reduction occurred in Imeretia – minus 16.1 thousand people over the year (to 492.5 thousand), – Newsgeorgia notes.
The long-term picture reinforces this gap. Over the last ten years, the population of Tbilisi has grown by 223.9 thousand people (+20%), and Adjara – by 70.2 thousand (+20%). At the same time, Imeretia lost 21.9 thousand inhabitants, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti – 26.4 thousand, Kakheti – 15.9 thousand, Shida Kartli – 12 thousand.
In general, 62.7% of the population of Georgia now live in cities.
