Why Georgians Are Complaining More About Georgia (2026 reality check)

Why does it feel like everyone in Georgia is more tense lately?

A traveler who has visited Georgia since 2007 posted a simple question on Reddit: “Why are Georgians complaining more about Georgia?” They said the country looks similar on the surface—but the mood feels different: more frustration, more “how did it become like this?” and more “it used to be better.”

The replies were blunt, and they clustered around a few repeating themes: money (inflation), housing (rent), work (jobs), and politics (protests, pressure, and trust).

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1) The everyday squeeze: inflation + rent + “same salary”

The most common answer was simple: life got more expensive, fast. Multiple commenters pointed to inflation, rent prices, and fewer good jobs as the main drivers of the mood shift.

One of the top replies: “Mainly inflation, rent prices, less jobs and overall quality of life changes.”

Even if salaries look the same on paper, what people can buy with that salary keeps shrinking—especially when your biggest monthly categories (food + housing) rise faster than income.

Food inflation = “your paycheck is worth less”

On Tbilisi.blog’s Cost of Living & Inflation dashboard, the latest update shows:

• Overall inflation: +4.5% year-over-year
• Food & non-alcoholic beverages: +11.5% year-over-year

That second number is the killer in real life. If food prices are up ~11% and your salary didn’t rise the same amount, then your paycheck is effectively ~11% smaller when it comes to groceries—instantly, no drama, just math.

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2) “It’s not just Georgia” — but that doesn’t make it easier

A few commenters argued this is a global story: post-COVID price increases, housing pressure, and uncertainty everywhere. One person compared it to struggles across parts of Europe too.

That perspective matters, but it also explains why the frustration feels sharper: people aren’t only reacting to prices. They’re reacting to the feeling that the country is under pressure from multiple directions at once—economy, housing, and politics—while daily life demands don’t pause.

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3) Politics and protests: rising tension and fear of consequences

Several replies moved beyond economics and described a more serious shift: a growing sense of political tension and shrinking tolerance for protest or criticism.

Commenters specifically mentioned things like fines, short-term detention for protest-related issues, and even court problems connected to social media posts. (These are allegations and personal accounts from the thread—not verified claims in this article—but they help explain the emotional temperature in the discussion.)

One commenter’s framing: “Our government reversed 20 years of progress in 2 years.”

Another strong theme was trust: some people feel that elites are doing better while ordinary people feel squeezed—and that creates a specific kind of anger that doesn’t go away with “well, inflation is global.”

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So what was “better back then”?

When people say “it used to be better,” the thread suggests they often mean a combination of:

• Lower pressure on basic life costs (especially food and rent)
• More optimism about direction and progress
• Less tension around politics and public criticism
• A feeling that effort paid off (work → stability), even if life wasn’t easy

And that’s why the mood can change even if the streets look the same.

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Takeaway

The Reddit thread reads like a snapshot of 2026 Georgia stress: cost-of-living pressure (with food inflation around +11.5%) plus rent and job anxiety, layered with political tension. Put those together and you get exactly what the traveler noticed: a country that can look familiar—but feel heavier.

If you live in Tbilisi and want a reality-check number to track, watch food inflation. When groceries run ahead of salaries, it quietly rewrites everyone’s monthly budget.

Sources:
Reddit thread (r/Sakartvelo)
Tbilisi.blog: Cost of Living & Inflation (GeoStat CPI dashboard)