Has Georgian property kept up with inflation?
Over the last five years, yes, but not every year and not in every currency. Geostat's index of new-flat prices in Tbilisi, measured in lari, rose 63.8% from the 2020 average to the second quarter of 2026, while consumer prices rose about 39.5%: a real gain of about 17.5% by our calculation. The path was uneven. In 2021, when inflation reached 13.9%, flat prices in lari barely moved and lost about 10.6% in real terms; in 2023 and 2024, with inflation near 1% to 2%, they rose 10% to 13% a year. Since late 2025 prices have again grown slightly less than inflation. Rents tell a different story: after a jump in 2022, Tbilisi rents in dollars have fallen about 22% in real terms since January 2023.
This page explains how inflation in Georgia behaves, how prices, rents, building costs and wages have moved against it, how property compares with deposits, and what it means for an owner. The long price series by city is on our price history page, and the exchange-rate side on our page on currency risk.
How inflation in Georgia behaves
| Year | Inflation | Year | Inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4.9% | 2021 | 13.9% |
| 2016 | 1.8% | 2022 | 9.8% |
| 2017 | 6.7% | 2023 | 0.4% |
| 2018 | 1.5% | 2024 | 1.9% |
| 2019 | 7.0% | 2025 | 4.0% |
| 2020 | 2.4% | September 2026 | 5.6% (year on year) |
Inflation in Georgia comes in waves. Long quiet spells, including two years of falling prices in 2012 and 2013, are broken by spikes when the lari weakens or energy and food prices jump, as in 2010, 2021 and 2022. The National Bank targets 3%. Its July 2026 forecast puts average inflation at 5.2% in 2026, mainly because of higher energy prices, falling to 2.7% in 2027 and 3.0% in 2028. Prices in Batumi rose a little faster than in Tbilisi over the 12 months to September 2026: 6.2% against 4.9% on average.
Flat prices against inflation, year by year
| Period | Flat prices | Consumer prices | Real change |
|---|---|---|---|
| End-2020 to end-2021 | +1.2% | +13.1% | -10.6% |
| End-2021 to end-2022 | +14.3% | +10.3% | +3.6% |
| End-2022 to end-2023 | +12.7% | +0.4% | +12.3% |
| End-2023 to end-2024 | +10.4% | +1.1% | +9.1% |
| End-2024 to end-2025 | +3.3% | +4.7% | -1.3% |
| Mid-2025 to mid-2026 | +4.9% | +5.8% | -0.8% |
The pattern matters more than any single year. When inflation jumped in 2021, flat prices did not follow at once; they caught up over the next three years, when inflation was low and demand strong. An owner who bought at the start of 2021 and sold a year later lost ground against inflation; one who held through 2024 gained. Geostat's index measures asking prices of new flats in Tbilisi, so it says nothing directly about resale flats or other cities, and quarters for which the official release was not available were estimated from neighbouring quarters.
The same story in dollars
Most foreign buyers think in dollars, and Galt & Taggart's dollar series gives a different picture. Between January 2022 and July 2026 the average price of a new Tbilisi flat rose 58.1% in dollars, from $902 to $1,426 per m², or about 33% after US inflation. Converted into lari at the official rates, the same rise was 36.1%, about 13% after Georgian inflation, because the lari strengthened over the period. In 2022 alone the dollar price rose about 18% while the lari price rose only about 2%, a real loss for a lari saver and a real gain for a dollar one. Whether property "beat inflation" therefore depends on which currency you measure in and when you start.
Rents against inflation
| Year | Rent | All consumer prices |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | -3.1% | 13.9% |
| 2022 | +37.4% | 9.8% |
| 2023 | +4.0% | 0.4% |
| 2024 | -0.7% | 1.9% |
| 2025 | -0.4% | 4.0% |
| September 2026 | +10.9% | 5.6% |
Rents do not track inflation smoothly either. They jumped in 2022, when people arriving from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus pushed up demand, then drifted down as many left, and the National Bank described them in 2025 as returning toward their long-term level. Measured by Galt & Taggart in dollars per m² for new Tbilisi flats, rent fell from $11.6 in January 2023 to $10.1 in July 2026, about 22% less after US inflation. In 2026 the rent component of Geostat's index has risen again, by 10.9% on a year earlier in September, but this covers all rented homes nationwide in lari and moves differently from new-flat rents in dollars. Rent is only about 2.6% of the consumer basket, so it has little effect on headline inflation.
Can a lease protect the rent?
Most leases in Georgia, residential and commercial, set the rent in dollars at a fixed amount for the lease term. That protects a foreign owner against a weaker lari but not against inflation over a long lease: a fixed $500 a month buys less every year. We found no data on how common inflation clauses are in residential leases. Practical options are a shorter lease term with a review at renewal, or a written clause raising the rent each year by an agreed percentage or by an inflation index named in the lease. A tenant who earns in lari will resist dollar increases when the lari weakens, so a clause that both sides can afford tends to last longer than one that maximises the rent.
Building costs and running costs
- Construction costs. Geostat's construction cost index rose 29.2% between February 2022 and August 2026, against about 19.4% for consumer prices; wages for construction work rose about 86% over the same period. In August 2026 overall costs were 3.4% higher than a year earlier and residential building costs 0.6% lower. Rising costs support new-flat prices, because developers pass them on.
- Wages. Average monthly earnings in Georgia rose from GEL 1,191.0 in 2020 to GEL 2,165.2 in 2025, an 81.8% increase, faster than both consumer prices (+32.0%) and new-flat prices in lari (+57.5% between the two annual averages). Higher incomes support demand and rents over time.
- Owner's running costs. The housing part of the consumer index, which includes utilities, rose 9.2% in the year to September 2026, and the household electricity tariff has been 25% higher since April 2026. Where the owner pays utilities or building charges, these costs rise with inflation even when the rent does not.
Property against deposits
| Month | Lari deposit | Real, after Georgian inflation | Foreign-currency deposit | Real, after US inflation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2022 | 11.31% | +0.6% | 0.96% | -6.3% |
| December 2025 | 9.34% | +5.2% | 2.60% | -0.1% |
| July 2026 | 8.91% | +3.2% | 2.52% | -0.8% |
Dollar deposits in Georgian banks have earned less than US inflation, so savers holding dollars have lost purchasing power; lari deposits have earned a positive real return but carry the exchange-rate risk. The National Bank noted in 2025 that property remained "an appealing investment option" because the gap between dollar deposit returns and rental yields was around 6 percentage points. In July 2026 Galt & Taggart's gross rental yield in Tbilisi was 8.5%, about 6 points above dollar deposits and slightly below lari deposits, before vacancy, costs and tax. Property's case against inflation rests on rent plus the long-run rise in prices; deposits pay a known rate with no repairs or tenants.
Affordability: prices against incomes
Because wages have risen faster than flat prices, a square metre has become slightly more affordable for local buyers. By our calculation, a square metre of a new Tbilisi flat cost about 1.78 average monthly wages in early 2022 and about 1.71 at the end of 2025. Mortgage rates work the other way: at an average 11.4% for new lari mortgages in July 2026, borrowing is expensive, and the National Bank's limits on how much of an income can go to repayments restrict how much local buyers can pay. Rising local incomes are the main long-run support for Tbilisi prices, because about nine in ten buyers there are Georgian.
What it means for an owner
Measure in your own currency
Compare price and rent with inflation in the currency you will spend, not in the one the flat is priced in.
Think in holding periods, not years
Prices lagged inflation in 2021 and caught up later; a short holding period carries more risk.
Protect the rent
Use shorter leases or a written annual increase, at a level the tenant can afford.
Watch running costs
Budget for higher utilities and building charges if you pay them.
Compare with the alternatives
Weigh net rent and expected price growth against what a deposit pays after inflation.
Risks and exceptions
- Lag in inflation spikes. Prices lost about 10.6% in real terms in 2021.
- Falling real rents. Dollar rents have fallen about 22% in real terms since 2023.
- Fixed dollar leases. They do not rise with inflation unless the lease says so.
- Rising running costs. Utilities and charges rise even when rent does not.
- Currency effects. The real result depends on the currency you measure in.
Frequently asked questions
Is property in Georgia a hedge against inflation?
Over 2020 to mid-2026 new-flat prices in lari beat inflation by about 17.5%, but they lagged in 2021 and again from late 2025.
What is inflation in Georgia now?
5.6% in September 2026 on a year earlier; the National Bank expects 5.2% on average in 2026.
Do rents rise with inflation?
Not reliably; they jumped in 2022 and have fallen in real terms since 2023.
Are leases indexed to inflation?
Usually not; most set a fixed rent in dollars, so add a review clause.
Is property better than a bank deposit?
Gross yields of about 8.5% exceed dollar deposits by about 6 points, before costs and tax.
Why did prices in dollars rise faster than in lari?
Because the lari strengthened against the dollar over 2022-2026.
Do building costs push prices up?
Yes; construction costs rose 29.2% from February 2022 to August 2026, led by wages.
What is the National Bank's inflation target?
3%, which it expects to approach again in 2027.
Sources
- Consumer price index (inflation), Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Consumer price index over the same month of the previous year, by group, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Consumer price index, 2010 = 100, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Consumer basket weights, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Residential Property Price Index, second quarter of 2026, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Construction cost index, February 2022 = 100, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Average monthly nominal earnings of employees, Geostat (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Monetary Policy Report, July 2026, National Bank of Georgia (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Financial Stability Report 2025, National Bank of Georgia (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Tbilisi Residential Real Estate, July 2026, Galt & Taggart (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, US Bureau of Labor Statistics (accessed 19 October 2026)
- In October the growth rate of deposits exceeded loans (NBG data), GBC, 28 November 2022 (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Deposits in the banking sector, December 2025 (NBG data), First Channel, 27 January 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Bank deposits at the end of July 2026 (NBG data), First Channel, 26 August 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Exchange rate and business strategy in commercial real estate (TBC Capital), Georgia Today, 3 February 2026 (accessed 19 October 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from Geostat CPI, house price, construction cost and wage data, Galt & Taggart, the National Bank of Georgia and US CPI.