Real Sign of Success

Georgia has been a top reformer in the last four doing business reports, ever since the Saakhashvili government took office.

Since then, annual growth hovers around ten percent each year, and investment has increased six-fold. Georgia now has more business per adult population than all countries but New Zealand and Singapore.

But the real signs of success are these: in 2007 the number of births increased 3.1 percent relative to 2006; and the number of deaths fell by 2.5 percent. This resulted in a population growth of 8,109 people: higher than any year since 1992. One of the reasons is this: average household income went up by 9.5 percent, while average household expenditure grew by 7.3 percent.

In other words, the standard of living is going up, and with this families decide to have more children. (Interestingly, Bulgaria - another top-10 reformer last year - also registered its first positive population growth since 1985).

The conclusion: if you want your population to grow, reform.