General economic situation in Azerbaijan (January-June 2010)

In January-June 2010, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Azerbaijan increased 3.7% or 561.4mln manat as compared to the same period of 2009 and made up 19.7bln manat. The amount of the GDP per capita composed AZN 2210.6 ($2751.5), an increase of 2.5% compared to the same period of 2009.

13.3 billion manat (67.5 percent) of GDP accounted for by industry, 5.1 billion manat (26.2%) - service sector. In these spheres, value added price grew by 2.5% and 5.4% respectively. Net taxes on goods and imports amounted to 6.3% of GDP.

The value added price in the oil and gas sector increased 2.4% and in non-oil - 4.7%.

Source: State Statistics Committee

In January-June 2010 the amount of industrial production in Azerbaijan composed AZN 14.2 billion, which is 3.5% more than January-June 2009.

The amount of production in the extractive industry reached AZN 10.9bln (77.5% of the gross industrial production), increasing by 2.1% as compared to the same period of the last year. The specific weight of processing industry was 16.9 percent, electricity, gas and water sectors accounted for 4.8 percent.

In January-June 2010, 0.1% decline was recorded in agricultural production compared to the same period of 2009. Negative impact on agricultural production was caused by incessant rains and abundant snowmelt in the mountains that were observed throughout the country in March-April 2010 and first half of May, which led to serious flooding, resulting in areas located near the mouth of the Kur and Araz rivers, 60,107 hectares of cropland and pasture were flooded.

The growth was observed in export operations and import operations. Azerbaijani export increased by 76.17% to $10245.4mln, and the import increased by 5.23% to $2901.6mln, and the black ink reached $7343.7mln.

Nearly 3766.9mln manat was invested in the economy of Azerbaijan in January-June 2010, an increase of 10.9% from the figures of the previous year. Especially, in June 745.6mln manat was invested in Azerbaijan's economy, which is 10.2% more than investments in the main capital in June 2009.  

In January-June 2010, the growth in the amount of retail commodity turnover and commercial services to the population was 9.0% and totaled AZN 8285.0 million in the annual calculation. In particular, 72.4% accounted for retail trade and 27.6% - paid services.

In January-June 2010, the prices of the consumer goods and tariffs on the services remained decreased by 0.6% compared with the previous month, but rose 4.9% in January-June 2010 compared to the same period of the last year. In June, the prices for foodstuffs decreased 1.1%, non-foodstuffs remained unchanged and the services increased by 0.1%.

In January-June 2010, the nominal income of the population totaled AZN 11483.7mln, which is 9.7% more compared to 2009. During this period, the nominal income per capita made up AZN 1290.0, which exceeds the figure in 2009 by 8.4%. The rise in salaries in various spheres of economy and rise in social benefits also contributed to growth in population income.

In 2010 the Central Bank of Azerbaijan continues the policy of maintaining the stable exchange rate of manat, which during the crisis made the main anchor of economic stability, unlike national currencies of other countries. In the post-crisis period, to accelerate economic development and eliminate the consequences of the crisis, the country will also need stable manat. In January-June 2010, the rate of manat in relevant to the USD reduced by 0.087 percent, and to euro increased 14.49%. 

In June, the rate of manat in relevant to the USD composed 0.80 manat, Euro - 0.98 manat, Russian ruble - 2.57 manat for 100 rubles.