On February 12th, 2025, The Georgian Institute of Politics presented the fourth Georgia Governance Index (GGI) – an annual progress report in the four spheres of Georgian governance measured in the previous year:
- Democracy and human rights (democratic governance),
- Effective state and state institutions (effective governance),
- Social and economic policies (socio-economic governance),
- Foreign and security policy (external governance).
The index was presented in Tbilisi to inform the Georgian public and international community about the challenges of governance and democratization in Georgia. The presentation included key findings and expert survey results, followed by an open discussion in Q&A format.
About the GGI
The index aims to inform the Georgian public and various stakeholders about the country’s democratic and economic developments, responding to the growing demand for an all-encompassing report on these issues. GGI 2024 analyses a year characterized by notable shifts in both domestic and international contexts. While concentrating primarily on Georgian state institutions, the GGI also examines the roles of other entities, such as political parties and civil society.
Methodologically, the GGI integrates both qualitative and quantitative research methods and epistemologies. Its scoring system derives from the GGI Expert Survey, conducted with 47 experts from various fields in Georgia, and is enhanced by qualitative research performed by the GIP team.
Key Findings:
The 2024 GGI findings indicate a decline in overall governance performance compared to the previous year. Three out of four domains registered lower scores, reflecting a complex interplay of internal political dynamics, socio-economic factors, and evolving international relations.
Democratic governance, which had shown an improvement in 2023, experienced a decrease, with its score falling from 41.65 to 32.65. While civil society continued to demonstrate relative strength, according to expert assessments, its impact was constrained by factors such as heightened political and ideological divergence and new repressive legislation affecting non-governmental organizations. The effectiveness of state institutions also faced challenges, as reflected in a decreased score for effective governance.
In the socio-economic sphere, the 2024 GGI documented a mixed picture. Despite a relatively higher score compared to other domains (40.45), disparities persisted, and certain areas such as healthcare and labor market policies received low assessments. While macroeconomic indicators, like sustained economic growth, contributed to a higher score in tax and budget policy, these gains did not translate uniformly across all segments of society, highlighting ongoing structural challenges. Nevertheless this was the only area which did not experience a decline in the expert survey, and in fact, its score actually increased slightly, from 38.22 to 40.45.
The most pronounced shift was observed in the domain of external governance where the score dropped significantly, from 26.42 to 18.74. This decline reflects developments in Georgia’s relations with the European Union and the United States, including the postponement of discussions regarding EU accession negotiations and the abolishing of the strategic partnership with the U.S. Furthermore, Georgia’s absence from the NATO membership perspective in the 2024 declaration indicates a shift in the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration trajectory. As a result of the decline in three governance areas out of four, the overall 2024 GGI Score has declined by 5 points compared to that for 2023.
The 2024 GGI underscores the interconnected nature of Georgia’s domestic and foreign policy challenges. The findings suggest a need to carefully examine the factors contributing to the decline observed in governance performance across all domains. This report provides a detailed analysis of the data collected, offering a comprehensive overview of the state of governance in Georgia in 2024. It aims to serve as a resource for understanding the complexities of the Georgian context and for informing discussions on potential policy responses and future development pathways.
The full GGI document contains detailed key findings and results, providing a roadmap for future progress in governance and democratization in Georgia. More information, including detailed results and recommendations, can be found in the full GGI document.
The event is organized with the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia.
