Georgia Military - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Defense Forces of Georgia (DFG; aka Georgian Defense Forces or GDF): Ground Forces, Air Force, National Guard, Special Operations Forces, National Guard; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Border Police, Coast Guard (includes Georgian naval forces, which were merged with the Coast Guard in 2009) (2023)

note: the Ministry of Internal Affairs also has forces for protecting strategic infrastructure and conducting special operations

Military expenditures

1.4% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2019)

1.9% of GDP (2018)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 30,000 troops, including active National Guard forces (2022)

note: in December 2020, the Parliament of Georgia adopted a resolution determining that the Georgian Defense Forces would have maximum peacetime strength of 37,000 troops

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the majority of the military's inventory consists of Soviet-era weapons and equipment, although in recent years it has received armaments from a number of European countries, as well as the US (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription was abolished in 2016, but reinstated in 2017 for men 18-27 years of age; conscript service obligation is 12 months (2023)

note 1: approximately 6-7,000 individuals are called up annually for conscription for service; approximately 25% enter the Defense Forces, while the remainder serve in the Ministry of Internal Affairs or as prison guards in the Ministry of Corrections

note 2: as of 2019, women made up about 6% of the military's full-time personnel

Military - note

Russian troops continue to occupy the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (2023)

NOTE: The information regarding Georgia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Georgia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Georgia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.