Cost of Living in Georgia (the Country) for International Medical Students: 2026 Breakdown

If you’re researching medical schools in Georgia, the country in the Caucasus, not the US state, the cost of living in Georgia is the number that actually decides whether it’s realistic for you: what you’ll spend every month once you’re there. Tuition gets most of the attention in study-abroad guides. Living costs are what catch people out, because they’re the ones that change month to month and city to city. Here’s a real breakdown of the cost of living in Georgia, not just tuition fees, for 2026.

If you haven’t already, start with our guide to studying medicine in Georgia and our entry requirements breakdown before you get into budgeting specifics. This post assumes you already know which universities are on the table.

The cost of living in Georgia: the short answer

Most international students studying medicine in Georgia spend somewhere between $500 and $900 a month on living costs, depending on the city and whether they’re in university housing or renting privately. That’s significantly below London and most Western European cities, and below many other popular study-abroad destinations too. Tbilisi, the capital, is the most expensive city in the country and still comes in well under what students typically pay in most UK, US, or Western European university towns.

Accommodation, city by city

This is the single biggest variable in your monthly budget, and where you live changes it a lot.

Tbilisi is where most of the country’s medical universities are based, and also the most expensive city to live in. Expect to pay 1,000 to 1,200 GEL (roughly $370 to $440) a month for a private one-bedroom apartment in a central area. Sharing a flat with other students brings that down to 600 to 800 GEL (about $220 to $300). University-affiliated hostel accommodation is the cheapest option at 300 to 500 GEL a month, and several universities require first-year international students to use it rather than arrange private housing straight away.

Batumi, Georgia’s second city and home to a smaller number of medical programmes, runs slightly cheaper: private apartments typically go for 800 to 1,000 GEL a month.

Kutaisi is the most affordable of the three main student cities, with shared flats and dormitory rooms available from 400 to 600 GEL.

Worth knowing if you’re weighing this against other destinations: rents in Tbilisi rose sharply after 2022, when a large number of people relocated to Georgia from Russia and Ukraine. Prices have since settled, but they haven’t gone back to pre-2022 levels, so treat any cost figures you find from before 2023 as outdated.

What individual universities actually charge for housing

Two examples give a useful real-world range for the cost of living in Georgia at the university level. Alte University in Tbilisi houses first-year international students in university-affiliated accommodation, typically running $3,000 to $4,000 for the year, working out to roughly $250 to $330 a month, food included. Tbilisi Medical Academy’s hostel accommodation runs $250 to $400 a month depending on whether you’re sharing, with food and groceries adding another $150 to $200 on top.

The pattern holds across most Georgian medical universities: expect mandatory or strongly recommended hostel accommodation in year one, with the option to move into a private rental from year two onward once you know the city.

Food, transport, utilities and insurance

Outside of rent, here’s what the rest of a typical month looks like:

• Food and groceries: $150 to $200 a month if you’re cooking most meals yourself, more if you’re eating out regularly
• Utilities (electricity, gas, water, internet): $50 to $60 a month, though this rises in winter, some sources put winter gas costs at close to double the summer rate
• Transport: a monthly student pass for buses and the metro in Tbilisi costs $10 to $15
• Health insurance: mandatory for foreign students, and typically $100 to $200 a month depending on the provider and level of cover

Add it up and a realistic full monthly budget, rent included, lands most students somewhere between $500 for a frugal, shared-housing lifestyle in Kutaisi, and $900 for a private flat in central Tbilisi with a reasonable amount of eating out.

How this compares to studying medicine at home

Students from the UK, the US, and much of Western Europe typically pay considerably more for living costs alone at home, before rent, food, transport or insurance in Georgia are even factored into the comparison. The overall cost of living in Georgia remains well below most Western study-abroad destinations, which is a significant part of why it’s become a more common route for international students weighing up the total cost of a medical degree, not just the tuition fee headline.

How Gateway Medics can help with this

Budgeting for a year abroad is easier when you’re not guessing at exchange rates and rental listings on your own. Our team works directly with students placed at Georgian medical universities, so the figures we give you come from what students are actually paying right now, not just published averages.

Gateway Medics’ service is completely free for students, there’s no fee for application support, university matching, or ongoing guidance. If you’re weighing up Georgia against other countries, or want a realistic month-by-month budget for your specific situation and university, get in touch with Gateway Medics and we’ll walk through it with you at no cost.

FAQ

Sources: Cost of living data via Numbeo, university-specific accommodation costs drawn from published fee guides for Tbilisi State Medical University and Tbilisi Medical Academy. Figures are 2026 estimates in GEL and USD and will shift with the exchange rate and local inflation, confirm current numbers before budgeting a full academic year around them.

Gateway Medics has helped students get into medical, dental, and veterinary programmes across Europe since 2016. Application support is 100% free. See all our partner universities or get in touch to speak with the team