Georgia

Georgia: strong, sustained growth, 1987–2025

Sweeping anti-corruption and market-liberalizing reforms after the 2003 Rose Revolution transformed Georgia into one of the post-Soviet region's most business-friendly economies, despite periodic conflict with Russia. Between 1987 and 2025, Georgia's GDP per capita grew from $1,544 to $9,692 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 5.0% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 1.8% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 10.8 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 23.1% to 5.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 37.3% to 63.9% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 68.3 to 74.7 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 28.7% to 89.5%, while the urban population share grew from 52.3% to 61.2%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions fell from 7.50 to 3.53 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 37.1 to 33.9; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 12.2% to 4.2%.