Azerbaijan's GDP declined by 7.8% to AZN54.4bn (€31.5bn) in 2015, according to data from the country's State Statistics Committee. The size of the economy shrank from AZN59bn (€59bn at the pre-February 2015 exchange rate) in 2014. Despite the publicly available statistics and the 4% inflation rate in 2015, state-friendly media like Trend news agency and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have all reported a 1.1% economic growth in 2015. It is unclear how those sources calculated GDP growth.
Azerbaijan's economy is facing a perfect storm of external and domestic pressures, including a steep decline in oil prices, reduced external trade as a result of that, two rounds of devaluation of its currency, skyrocketing inflation starting in December 2015 and social unrest which started on January 12.
The share of the oil and gas sector in the economy declined to 30.7% in 2015 from 40.4% in 2014. However, Trend news agency reported that the oil sector grew by 1.2% in 2015. In light of the declining oil prices and slightly lower oil output, the methodology used for calculating the growth is unclear.
Meanwhile, industry accounted for 33.9% of GDP, construction for 12.4% while agriculture and fishery for 6.2% of GDP.
The Aliyev administration has promised to push for economic diversification in order to reduce the country's dependence on oil and gas prices.
Related Articles
IMF says Azerbaijan’s banking sector stronger but systemic vulnerabilities persist
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded that Azerbaijan’s financial system has made considerable progress in strengthening resilience since the 2015 oil price shock and 2020 COVID-19 ... more
Azerbaijan’s banking sector assets reach AZN27.88bn with a 2.55% NPL ratio in March 2025
The Azerbaijani banking sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience and steady growth in recent years, despite global economic challenges, according to the latest central bank ... more
Azerbaijani banks report mixed financial performance in Q1 2025
Azerbaijan’s leading commercial banks released their financial results for the first quarter of 2025, showing a mixed performance in profitability, digitalisation, credit growth and capital ... more
Most Read
-
Putin to skip Rio BRICS summit over ICC warrant as Xi signals no-show
13 days ago
-
Turkey yet to prove rare earth deposit has suggested “giant” potential despite reported processing talks with China
10 months ago
-
Uproar in Mongolia as development bank reveals scale of risky loans and NPLs
3 years ago