- Metro population
- 1,087,000
Updated July 2026 · Sources cited: geostat.ge, civil.ge
Good to know
Good to Know
- Tbilisi's registered population (1.28M as of Jan 2025) understates the true foreign/nomad presence by a significant margin; unregistered long-term digital nomads, visa-free residents, and Russian emigrants likely add 10–15% additional daytime population beyond official statistics.
- Russian-speaking population is now a visible and significant minority, especially since 2022 Ukraine invasion; Russian language widely heard in central neighborhoods, many Russian shops/restaurants, and some reports of tension with local Georgian speakers over geopolitical context.
- Tech sector is rapidly internationalizing with government incentives attracting major firms and startups; 98-country visa-free 365-day entry policy + 1% freelancer tax has deliberately positioned Tbilisi as a digital nomad hub since 2022.
- Nomad community is active, accessible, and English-speaking; majority of expat/nomad networks are Russian-language or Russian-majority, though younger Georgians (under 35) widely speak English and community is genuinely mixed nationality.
- Final detailed 2024 census results (including ethnic breakdown by city) not available until June 2026; current foreign-resident figures are preliminary.
Business And Tech Presence
- IT Sector Growth
- Georgian IT industry expanded 76% (2022–2024): IT companies rose from 13,700 to 24,100+
- Startup Ecosystem
- Theneo (AI platform) won Web Summit 2022 PITCH contest among 2,300 startups; raised $1.5M. 37 leading startups backed by GITA raised additional capital of $134M+ since 2019 (4,900% increase). Prominent local firms: Redberry (100+ award-winning web/app agency), Neurons Lab (AI transformation services), Atlas Analytics (B2B sales automation).
- Government Incentives
- International Company Status grants tech firms exemptions on property/dividends tax and 5% profit tax; Virtual Zone for IT sector offers zero corporate tax and no VAT
- Digital Nomad Infrastructure
- Multiple coworking spaces (Impact Hub Tbilisi, WeWork, Fabrika creative complex, Stamba Hotel), reliable fiber internet across city, nomad-friendly neighborhoods (Vera, Vake, Saburtalo, Marjanishvili), active Facebook groups ('Digital Nomads Tbilisi', 'Expats in Tbilisi'), monthly meetups and community events
Notable International Tech Presence
Google
- Presence
- Office operations in Tbilisi
Booking.com
- Presence
- Significant presence in Tbilisi
DataArt
- Presence
- Global software firm with Tbilisi operations
Exadel
- Presence
- Software consulting and development in Tbilisi
Lineate
- Presence
- US-headquartered tech firm opened Tbilisi offices in 2022, invested $700k, created 50+ jobs
Devexperts
- Presence
- Financial software solutions with Tbilisi team (500+ engineers globally)
Thomson Reuters
- Presence
- Professional information services operations in Tbilisi
Ethnic And National Composition
- Georgian Percentage
- 90
- Foreign Born Percentage Note
- Specific Tbilisi foreign-born % not separately published; national foreign-resident percentage (6.6% as of 2024 census) is substantially higher than pre-2022 baseline (0.6% in 2014)
- Note Ethnic Data
- Final detailed ethnic breakdown from 2024 census not yet published; available June 2026
Notable Nationalities In Tbilisi
Armenian
- Prevalence
- Significant historical minority
Russian
- Detail
- Estimated 100,000+ post-invasion arrivals in Georgia; bulk in Tbilisi; Russian language, shops, restaurants increasingly common in city
- Prevalence
- Significant and visibly growing minority, especially post-2022; concentrated in Tbilisi and Batumi
Azerbaijani
- Prevalence
- Significant historical minority
Metro Area Population Estimate
- Year
- 2025
- Figure
- 1087000
- Source Type
- MacroTrends/Population statistical databases
Official Registered Population
- Figure
- 1282600
- Source Type
- National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), January 1, 2025
- Notes
- Official city proper population as of latest official count
Foreign Permanent Residents Official
- Percentage Georgia Wide
- 6.6
- Source
- 2024 National Census (Geostat), preliminary results
- Count Georgia Wide
- 250000
- Notes
- Foreign nationals officially recorded as permanently residing in Georgia; represents tenfold increase from 2014 figure of ~22,000
Broader Foreign And Nomad Population Estimate
- Narrative
- Tbilisi has experienced unprecedented foreign resident growth since 2022. The bulk of Russian emigres post-Ukraine invasion (estimated ~100,000+ nationally by late 2022, likely higher by 2025) concentrate in Tbilisi and Batumi. The city entered major digital nomad awareness in 2022 and now hosts a well-established nomad infrastructure with visa-free 365-day stays for citizens of 98 countries. Conservative estimates suggest 10-15% of Tbilisi's regular daytime population includes unregistered digital nomads, visa-free long-stayers, and tourist-visa residents not reflected in official census—plausibly 100,000–200,000 persons beyond the official registered base, though exact unregistered figures are deliberately not published by authorities.
- Sources Basis
- Media reports (OC Media, Civil Georgia), nomad community guides, visa/residency guidance, census preliminary data
Key Unregistered Segments
- Russian-speaking emigrants (significant visible minority since 2022)
- Digital nomads on visa-free stays (often work remotely for foreign income, not taxed locally)
- Tourist-visa residents on repeated or extended 365-day cycles
- Work-permit holders and remote freelancers on temporary residence permits
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this local demographics research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Tbilisi
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.