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Home » Economy of the World » Azerbaijan
 

Azerbaijan Economy
Part of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Azerbaijan economy recorded an incredible economic growth of more than 41% in the first quarter of the last financial year 2007-07. An oil rich nation, Azerbaijan economy has been on foe the success stories in the central Asian region. Though last few years, the economy of Azerbaijan has been recording inconsistent levels of growth yet on the whole, the country is well poised to become of the leading economic powers in this part of the world.

The Azerbaijan economy however, has been plagued with a few serious economic problems. The official figures for people living below the poverty line are still more than 40% while inflation is around a staggering 8%. Unemployment is still quite high by the standards of the region at 1.2% while public debt of the country accounts for a high 10% of the GDP. Going by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) global rankings of the financial year 2006-07, Azerbaijan economy is placed at 92nd position. The per capita income is estimated at about US $7300.

The Azerbaijan economy is a service sector economy with the services dominating the economic landscape of the country. The labor forces of the country numbering more than 5 million, is mostly engaged in services sector. Almost 52% of the employed workforce is engaged in services, more than 40% in agriculture and allied activities while the rest are involved in the manufacturing.



In terms of industries, iron and steel, cement, chemicals, petrochemicals, textiles, petroleum, petroleum and natural gas are the major ones in Azerbaijan. With a trade surplus, Azerbaijan economy made an import of about US $4.65 billion and exports of US $ 6.11 billion in the year 2005. While Russia continues to be the most important trading partner for Azerbaijan, United Kingdom in recent times has emerged as another leading trading partner. Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Ukraine are the other major trading partners for Azerbaijan in Europe while the US in North America and China in Asia are the other countries with which Azerbaijan has close economic relations.

Azerbaijan is one of the economic assistance recipient nations in the central Asian region with aid amounting to small amount. The country has an observer status with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a full member of the trading block like CIS, GUAM.