Census delayed

The Georgian Census which was due to be carried out in January 2008 was delayed for about 2 years. The Department of Statistics says this was due to a lack of finance. However head of this department Grigol Pantsulaia states that the last census was carried out in 2002 and Georgian legislation obliges the authorities to carry one out once every 10 years, so there is no problem with having a two year delay.

The Department thinks that more than USD 4 million is needed to carry out the census but the financial crisis has made it difficult for the country to allot this amount. The new census will be held either in the second half of 2011 or at the beginning of 2012.

This will be the second census since the country regained independence. According to the 2002 census the population of Georgia was 4.357 million. 84% were ethnic Georgians, 6.5 ethnic Azeris, 5.7% ethnic Armenians and 1.7% ethnic Russians. According to the last Soviet period census in 1989 Georgia’s population was 5.5 million.

The World Bank’s prognosis is that by 2025 Georgia’s population could decrease by 17%.