The foreign trade turnover with 155 world countries amounted to $33.560 billion in 2012, or 7.61 percent less than in 2011. The volume of exports decreased by 10.02 percent to $23.907 billion compared to 2011. The volume of import decreased by 1.06 percent and hit $9.652 billion. Azerbaijan exported 2,273 products, and imported 6,421 different goods. As of 2012, the nominal index of export exceeded import. This formed the foreign trade surplus to the amount of $14.255 billion or 15.3 percent less than in 2011.
As in previous periods, oil and oil products were mainly exported from Azerbaijan in 2012.
However, the decline in oil production volumes in the country has reduced exports, and consequently has also reduced the foreign trade turnover of the country.
The positive moment in the foreign trade of the country as of 2012 should be stressed. The export of non-oil products increased by 11.2 percent per year. So, in 2012, the export volume of tea, caviar, sugar, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables increased.
Main products exported from Azerbaijan
Name of the product |
2012 |
Compared to 2011, % |
|
cost, thousand dollars |
Share in export volume, % |
||
Crude oil |
20 232 597,80 |
84,63 |
88,31 |
Oil products |
1 321 209,78 |
5,53 |
86,49 |
Natural gas |
648 717,15 |
2,71 |
112,91 |
Fruits and vegetables |
264 326,49 |
1,11 |
114,29 |
Oil and butter |
221 765,96 |
0,93 |
127,63 |
Spirits and soft drink |
21 304,91 |
0,09 |
135,47 |
Aluminum |
94 929,43 |
0,40 |
748,09 |
Ferrous metals, tons |
113 422,47 |
0,47 |
55,56 |
Raw cotton |
8 156,11 |
0,03 |
163,93 |
Chemical products |
174 584,98 |
0,73 |
145,34 |
Others |
806 957,11 |
3,37 |
101,51 |
Source: state customs committee
Most of Azerbaijan's exports (84.63 percent) fell to the export of crude oil in 2012.
The exports of crude oil decreased by 11.69 percent compared to 2011.
The exports of petroleum products declined by 13.51 percent. As of 2012, around 5.53 percent of total exports from the country fell to the oil products.
Azerbaijan increased gas exports by 12.91 percent in 2012. As of 2012, the share of gas in total export volume was 2.71 percent compared to 2.61 percent for 2011.
In 2012, Azerbaijan exported chemical products worth $174.5 million. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, exports of chemical products increased by 45.3 percent compared to 2011.
This is connected with its increased production in the country. The share of chemical products was 0.73 percent in the total volume of exports in 2012.
The success of the country in exports of aluminum and its products should be stressed. As of 2012, Azerbaijan increased aluminum export by 7 times compared to the same period of 2011.
In total, during the period, aluminum worth $94.929 million were sold abroad. The share of exports of aluminum and aluminum goods, of the total export volume of the country was 0.40 percent as of 2012.
Azerbaijan has two aluminum plants - in Sumgait and Ganja, as well as its own raw material base (alunite). This fully provides the domestic market with these products and there are export opportunities.
In this period, the highest amount of export fell on Italy. Thus, during the reported period Azerbaijan exported commodities to Italy totaling $5.547.9 bln which makes up 23.21 percent of total exports. Mainly oil and oil products are exported to this country. India ($1.890.6 bln) and France ($1.775.6 bln) hold leading positions. Italy has maintained its leading position since 2008 excluding early three months. Turkey took a lead in January and U.S. in February and March 2008.
Turkey ranks first on largest import volume ($1.520.04 billion) in 2012. About 15.75 percent of the Azerbaijani imports fell to it. Russia ranks second - $1.378.4 billion and Germany - third ($779.8 million)
Most of Azerbaijan's imports (27.24 percent) in 2012 accounted for the imports of machines, equipment, electric vehicles and their spare parts.
However, imports of these products decreased by 13.40 percent compared to 2011. The imports of vehicles and spare parts decreased by 16.29 percent, although this import retained a significant share in the country's import (14.65 percent).
The import of vehicles maintained a significant share in the country's import despite the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee has imposed a ban on imports of "VAZ-21144" and "VAZ-21154" cars, imported into the country under the state guarantee agreements since Oct. 1, 2012.
According to the State Statistics Committee, in 2012, the country imported 101,255 cars to the amount of $1.119.55 billion.
The cars were mainly imported. Around 89,652 cars with a total cost of $760.1 million were imported. Around 9,433 trucks worth $213.3 million, 1,132 special vehicles at the amount of $96.2 million, as well as 1,038 buses (capacity of 10 persons and more) worth $49.9 million were imported.
Import of ferrous metals ranks third (13.58 percent of total import volume).
Furniture and grain (by 20.5 percent) were mainly imported in 2012 compared to 2011 (by 36.45 percent). Their share in imports hit 1.04 percent and 3 52 percent, respectively.
In late September, the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers signed a resolution to exempt imported wheat, meslin, wheat and wheat-rye flour from the value added tax (VAT) for the period of one year.
Main products imported to Azerbaijan
Name of products |
2012 |
Compared to 2011, % |
|
cost (thousand dollars) |
Share in import volume, % |
||
meat |
15 772,33 |
0,16 |
70,06 |
flour |
6 107,98 |
0,06 |
10,12 |
butter |
136 808,37 |
1,42 |
113,08 |
milk |
6 966,78 |
0,07 |
74,91 |
grain |
339 828,47 |
3,52 |
120,50 |
Sugar and granulated sugar |
176 549,50 |
1,83 |
105,21 |
Cars, mechanisms, electric goods, equipment |
2 629 611,10 |
27,24 |
86,60 |
Vehicles and spare parts |
1 414 435,65 |
14,65 |
83,71 |
Wood and wooden goods |
274 100,80 |
2,84 |
106,32 |
Ferrous metals, tons |
1 310 518,41 |
13,58 |
111,83 |
Furniture and its parts |
100 297,30 |
1,04 |
136,45 |
Pharmaceutical goods |
241 735,25 |
2,50 |
99,47 |
source: Azerbaijani state customs committee
According to the State Customs Committee, Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover with CIS countries in 2012 amounted to $3.629.9 billion or 10.82 percent of total volume of Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover. Exports to CIS countries for the period totaled $1.251.8 billion (5.24 percent of total export) and imports - $2.378.04 billion (24.64 percent of total import). As a result, the country had a red ink in trading with them to the amount of $1.126.14 million compared to the surplus worth $351.62 million in 2011.
During this period, about 8,662 legal and physical entities were involved in foreign trade operations, including 3,884 - legal entities and 4,778 - physical entities.
The share of public sector in exports totaled $22.476 billion, private - $1.198 billion, the share of physical entities - $233.2 million .
The share of public sector in import operations amounted to $2.052 billion, the private sector - $7.149 billion, physical entities -$450.099 million.
Azerbaijan's trade operations with foreign countries in 2012
Name of country |
Export, thousand dollars |
Compared to export in 2011, % |
Import, thousand dollars |
Compared to import in 2011, % |
total |
23 907 972.19 |
89.98 |
9 652 870.18 |
98.94 |
including |
||||
European countries: |
11 198 921.93 |
70.98 |
2 669 552.99 |
84.83 |
Austria |
139 980.32 |
35,30 times |
124 602.49 |
133.15 |
Belgium |
2 684.43 |
92.92 |
57 542.21 |
101.24 |
Bulgaria |
597 561.54 |
145.60 |
25 975.33 |
72.34 |
Great Britain |
326 657.14 |
20,58 times |
496 188.33 |
102.15 |
Hungary |
57.39 |
162.77 |
23 709.95 |
64.52 |
Germany |
964 767.31 |
184.34 |
779 867.92 |
92.36 |
Greece |
833 834.49 |
400.64 |
15 204.55 |
171.54 |
Denmark |
2 167.26 |
152.37 |
20 118.65 |
46.58 |
Ireland |
27 697.13 |
652,78 times |
18 241.63 |
146.32 |
Spain |
66 912.17 |
23.58 |
91 472.51 |
256.90 |
Italy |
5 547 994.05 |
59.39 |
261 622.08 |
102.77 |
Cyprus |
23 391.94 |
34.39 |
50 252.62 |
18,75 times |
Latvia |
5 716.17 |
40.79 |
8 540.78 |
66.23 |
Lithuania |
2 684.56 |
53.41 |
21 322.42 |
106.51 |
Luxembourg |
172.66 |
131.89 |
14 443.66 |
52.15 |
Malta |
51 685.36 |
19.24 |
307.44 |
84.46 |
Netherlands |
10 848.62 |
159.34 |
150 086.12 |
106.43 |
Poland |
3 482.96 |
111.98 |
45 255.77 |
37.87 |
Portugal |
243 085.13 |
74.83 |
2 913.65 |
112.29 |
Romania |
59 600.63 |
112.37 |
23 989.10 |
161.04 |
Slovakia |
5.22 |
3.57 |
26 273.01 |
136.62 |
Slovenia |
17.93 |
286.53 |
6 088.13 |
55.08 |
Finland |
49.13 |
71.19 |
51 860.97 |
78.70 |
France |
1 775 643.84 |
43.99 |
185 834.81 |
30.52 |
Czechia |
511 763.12 |
250.98 |
98 223.05 |
95.70 |
Sweden |
82.09 |
13.66 |
63 679.92 |
74.30 |
Estonia |
379.37 |
57.15 |
5 935.88 |
143.31 |
Other countries: |
11 457 064.37 |
145.58 |
4 605 275.89 |
113.56 |
Australia |
31 172.36 |
291,51 times |
7 198.11 |
123.16 |
Albania |
0.00 |
0.00 |
46.50 |
264.18 |
Algeria |
2 866.88 |
127.86 |
71.59 |
108.45 |
Angola |
22.62 |
10,95 times |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Angelia (Great Britain) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
1 211.90 |
101.54 |
Andorra |
0.00 |
0.00 |
10.87 |
18.48 |
Argentina |
24.74 |
0.18 |
14 991.93 |
65.10 |
Aruba |
83.84 |
57.99 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Afghanistan |
119 916.35 |
119.68 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Bangladesh |
0.00 |
0.00 |
43.93 |
16.08 |
Barbados |
0.00 |
0.00 |
37.54 |
0.00 |
Bahrain |
15.31 |
193.11 |
51.05 |
24.50 |
Belize |
0.00 |
0.00 |
254.34 |
6.17 |
The Bermudas |
42.10 |
277.64 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
2.09 |
0.00 |
283.94 |
71.72 |
Brazil |
316.35 |
327.99 |
183 275.93 |
104.17 |
Brunei Darussalam |
2.67 |
10.25 |
5.64 |
466.20 |
Virgin islands (Britain) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
2 229.52 |
816.89 |
Vietnam |
19 439.95 |
143.85 |
2 680.45 |
238.94 |
Venezuela |
102.48 |
371,21 times |
11.67 |
0.00 |
Gabon |
11.88 |
113.22 |
80.58 |
13,24 |
Ghana |
42.82 |
64.59 |
65.34 |
0.00 |
Guinea |
0.00 |
0.00 |
7 969.23 |
0.00 |
Hong Kong |
758.95 |
0.00 |
3 211.62 |
147.49 |
Georgia |
570 724.92 |
106.62 |
129 934.56 |
145.18 |
Jabalia |
0.00 |
0.00 |
478.10 |
401.86 |
Dominica |
0.00 |
0.00 |
5.56 |
28.32 |
the Dominican Republic |
0.00 |
0.00 |
4.31 |
292.09 |
Egypt |
24 463.59 |
15.19 |
6 597.83 |
254.34 |
Zambia |
0.00 |
0.00 |
128.70 |
102,61 times |
Zimbabwe |
0.00 |
0.00 |
254.23 |
31.83 |
Israel |
1 666 619.32 |
203.85 |
61 591.37 |
163.96 |
India |
1 890 655.57 |
515.38 |
69 701.14 |
156.03 |
Indonesia |
1 757 317.82 |
192.45 |
37 272.89 |
282.61 |
Jordan |
44.81 |
77.48 |
1 267.87 |
35.86 |
Iceland |
20.02 |
0.00 |
630.70 |
131.62 |
Iraq |
418 427.09 |
422.24 |
316.33 |
87.09 |
Iran |
87 342.28 |
60.31 |
176 442.87 |
109.94 |
Yemen |
55.25 |
0.00 |
6.25 |
0.00 |
Cayman Islands |
8.87 |
59.23 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Cambodia |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.72 |
0.00 |
Cameroon |
0.00 |
0.00 |
3.60 |
0.00 |
Canada |
8 482.12 |
37,58 times |
32 583.93 |
197.28 |
Qatar |
1 524.62 |
62,85 times |
1 312.04 |
10.90 |
Kenya |
0.00 |
0.00 |
48.83 |
7.20 |
China |
183 768.90 |
471.07 |
632 290.33 |
100.62 |
Columbia |
45.62 |
10,24 times |
202.54 |
407.96 |
Congo |
15.48 |
59.66 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Korea (DPRK) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
10.08 |
38.19 |
Korean Republic |
1 132.36 |
0.25 |
242 811.33 |
119.14 |
Costa Rica |
0.00 |
0.00 |
178.42 |
133.20 |
Côte d'Ivoire |
0.00 |
0.00 |
3.64 |
124.83 |
Kuwait |
13.71 |
22.80 |
177.65 |
336.42 |
Cuba |
0.00 |
0.00 |
5 154.84 |
232,43 times |
Lebanon |
31 178.61 |
96.45 |
269.22 |
31.87 |
Libya |
142 448.03 |
187 421,75 t |
5.37 |
284.27 |
Liechtenstein |
1.16 |
126.55 |
16.88 |
192.12 |
Madagascar |
0.00 |
0.00 |
2.27 |
535.49 |
Macao |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.54 |
0.00 |
Macedonia |
0.00 |
0.00 |
416.07 |
953.91 |
Malawi |
0.00 |
0.00 |
538.97 |
162.94 |
Malaysia |
370 669.24 |
55.82 |
19 000.21 |
50.93 |
the Maldives |
5.41 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
the Marshall Islands |
0.00 |
0.00 |
1.00 |
0.35 |
Mauritius |
0.00 |
0.00 |
5.03 |
880.80 |
Mauritania |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.24 |
0.13 |
Mexico |
543.99 |
16,86 times |
4 505.51 |
113.77 |
Mongolia |
577.76 |
119.47 |
0.24 |
0.29 |
Montenegro |
2.25 |
60.69 |
8.43 |
0.00 |
Mozambique |
0.00 |
0.00 |
3.99 |
0.00 |
Morocco |
0.00 |
0.00 |
6 656.21 |
261.64 |
Myanmar |
0.00 |
0.00 |
18.17 |
528.69 |
Nepal |
0.00 |
0.00 |
5.26 |
7.65 |
Nigeria |
32.51 |
112.87 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Niue (New Zealand) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
4.21 |
0.00 |
New Zealand |
119.80 |
217.32 |
16 537.38 |
104.68 |
Norway |
2 509.98 |
932.10 |
21 315.81 |
56.87 |
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
14 279.76 |
103.80 |
101 550.84 |
106.50 |
Oman |
1 709.23 |
40.44 |
163.83 |
107.41 |
Pakistan |
3.62 |
49.31 |
1 334.26 |
47.80 |
Palestine |
0.00 |
0.00 |
32.85 |
0.00 |
Panama |
280.51 |
604.70 |
21 530.38 |
240.53 |
Papua New Guinea |
0.90 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Peru |
10.30 |
763.24 |
74.74 |
285.19 |
Puerto Rico (USA) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
116.58 |
979.25 |
Rwanda |
0.00 |
0.00 |
4.52 |
0.00 |
San-Marino |
4.21 |
0.00 |
1 316.06 |
16,03 times |
Samoa, USA |
0.00 |
0.00 |
2.36 |
0.00 |
Saudi Arabia |
13.00 |
15.50 |
508.63 |
48.02 |
the Seychelles |
1.10 |
1.95 |
702.10 |
54,48 times |
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
0.00 |
0.00 |
27.80 |
0.00 |
Sint Maarten (Netherlands) |
0.00 |
0.00 |
12.88 |
0.00 |
Sierra Leone |
83.80 |
256.58 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Senegal |
37.80 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Serbia |
21.99 |
149.13 |
21 894.55 |
11,98 times |
Singapore |
250 362.29 |
697,06 times |
17 753.42 |
132.63 |
Syria |
13.00 |
18.85 |
485.03 |
52.29 |
United States of America (USA) |
1 600 829.59 |
88.71 |
715 664.95 |
113.52 |
Sudan |
0.00 |
0.00 |
3.59 |
0.00 |
Taiwan |
650 103.48 |
80259,49 t |
26 219.94 |
97.16 |
Thailand |
343 709.04 |
253.90 |
24 143.93 |
144.52 |
Tanzania |
4.17 |
121.23 |
621.21 |
193.96 |
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago |
43.57 |
83,84 times |
16.30 |
15.42 |
Tunis |
247 233.35 |
0.00 |
8 090.23 |
162.14 |
Turks and Caicos Islands |
0.00 |
0.00 |
6.60 |
116.71 |
Turkey |
563 890.31 |
131.77 |
1 272 938.90 |
116.78 |
the Philippines |
35.12 |
5.43 |
221.20 |
58.17 |
Croatia |
330 588.75 |
95.08 |
3 407.62 |
39.44 |
Central African Republic |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.70 |
3.23 |
Chili |
0.00 |
0.00 |
406.07 |
55.06 |
Switzerland |
82 011.55 |
46.39 |
133 733.35 |
73.73 |
Sri-Lanka |
0.00 |
0.00 |
12 030.80 |
77.83 |
Uruguay |
0.00 |
0.00 |
956.39 |
57.78 |
Ecuador |
15.94 |
31,74 times |
16 459.65 |
68.01 |
Equatorial Guinea |
2.24 |
184.21 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
South African Republic |
4.29 |
429,15 times |
2 602.92 |
274.34 |
Jamaica |
0.00 |
0.00 |
4 700.11 |
0.00 |
Japan |
928.59 |
257.55 |
227 050.91 |
145.16 |
Others |
838.14 |
125.39 |
25.04 |
0.00 |
CIS countries: |
1 251 985.89 |
42.81 |
2 378 041.30 |
93.13 |
Belarus |
11 691.13 |
1.75 |
68 028.26 |
105.40 |
Kazakhstan |
52 870.35 |
90.72 |
340 555.59 |
156.72 |
Kyrgyzstan |
26 676.85 |
126.12 |
2 240.71 |
242.66 |
Moldova |
251.75 |
9.90 |
8 785.93 |
157.54 |
Uzbekistan |
11 523.43 |
52.66 |
8 027.40 |
15.88 |
Russia |
959 838.34 |
80.84 |
1 378 444.55 |
83.99 |
Tajikistan |
43 990.09 |
333.07 |
159.60 |
5.75 |
Turkmenistan |
58 915.59 |
134.16 |
32 709.62 |
253.30 |
Ukraine |
86 228.38 |
9.48 |
539 089.63 |
96.65 |
source: Azerbaijani state customs committee