Recent fertility and mortality trends in Georgia

Zurab Shinjiashvili
Ketevan Asatashvili, US Embassy
Marina Chubinidze, Service of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

In the last years, there have been significant changes, as fertility decline and mortality increase as well as increase of the number of families with a single child and population aging. These processes have particularly been distinguished from 1990-s and noticed for the most part among Georgian population. The main indicator of population reproduction – birth rate, has decreased. Nowadays, as fewer children are born, their number is not enough to cover the generation of parents. In 15 years, the birth rate decreased exactly twice. As a result, young-age groups reduce, and the share of 60-year-elder people grows, i.e. there is a population aging. Total fertility rate is 1,346 (2005), net reproduction rate – 0,614. In the case of such tendencies, there is a threat of the long-term decrease of newborns. This implies the extinction of the nation. As for the mortality trends, the dynamics of population mortality is characterized with quite negative tendency, especially the share of people who died at the labour age increased. The level of infant mortality is high. This indicator is almost twice higher than in newly independent states. Unfortunately, the number of stillborns is also high. Due to the systematic decrease of population fertility rate, the share of Georgians has significantly decreased among the population of the whole South Caucasus. Today, our main goal is to stop the depopulation process and preserve even fertility of the population, i.e. an equal change of generations. However, this goal implies the development of economical situation of the country. The paper presents the analysis of the recent fertility and mortality trends in Georgia. We define extra-marital births, maternal and infant mortality, the reasons of fertility decline and mortality increase and their determining factors, as well as other issues related to this theme.