Social sector in Azerbaijan (January-October 2015 )

Population's income

According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, the nominal income of the population totaled 33.519 billion manat in January-October 2015, which is 5.7 percent more compared to January-October 2014.

Thus, during this period, the nominal income of the population per capita increased by 4.4 percent and hit 3521,1 manat.

Major indices, characterizing income of the population

Source: State Statistics Committee

The population's income after paying all required fees and membership fees made up 30.385 billion manat, which is 5.7 percent more than in the same period of 2014. Real income per capita increased by 4.4 percent to 3191,9 manat.

Azerbaijani citizens spent 76.3 percent to purchase goods and services, 9.3 percent - to pay for taxes, duties, loans, social and insurance fees, 2.9 percent - to pay off the loans and mandatory membership dues, 11.5 percent - to accumulate the capital during this period.

The population's expenditure amounted to 29.664 billion manat in January-October 2015 or 3.855 billion manat less than the income of the population but by 23.4 percent more than the expenditure of the population in January-October 2014 (according to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, Trend's calculations).

The gap in income and expenditure of the population in favor of income testifies to the growth of material well-being of Azerbaijani citizens. The differentiation in the population's income and the availability of the Gini coefficient in the country should be taken into account.

Salary

The salary is one of the key social and economic indicators, which sufficiently enough characterizes the level of the prosperity of the working part of the population. According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, the average monthly salary in Azerbaijan in January-September 2015 comprised 461.1 manat compared to 441.6 manat as of the same period of 2014.

As of October 1, 2015, the average salary in the oil sector amounted to 2107 manat per month, while in non-oil sector - 421.1 manat, in the public sector - 357.2 manat, in the private sector - 605.9 manat.

The highest salary was observed in the mining industry, financial, information and communication, scientific and technical activity, as well as the construction sectors.

Labor market

According to the State Statistics Committee, as of early November 2015, the economically active population is 4.900 million people, of which 4.665 million people were engaged in labor activity. In this case, as of November 1, 2015, the number of hired people is 1.506 million people, including 877,100 people worked in the public sector, and 629,200 people - in private sector.

The number of people working in the oil sector amounted to 34,600 people, in the non-oil sector - 1.472 million people.

Around 21.7 percent fall to the hired employees involved in the production spheres: 6.6 percent in construction, 6.4 percent in manufacturing industry, 3 percent in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 2.3 percent - in the mining industry, 1.7 percent - in the production and distribution of electricity, gas and steam, 1.7 percent - in water supply, waste recycling, 22.2 percent in education, 18.9 percent - trade, repair of vehicles, 8.8 percent - medical and social services, 6.7 percent in state governance and defense, social maintenance, 4.9 percent - transportation and warehousing, 3.8 percent - recreation, entertainment and arts, 3.9 percent - professional, scientific and technical activities, 1.8 percent - communication and information, 2.1 percent - financial and insurance activities, 1.1 percent - real estate transactions, 1.6 percent - administrative and additional services, 1.5 percent - tourist accommodation and catering and 1.0 percent - other areas.

As of November 1, 2015, some 29,000 people were officially registered as unemployed in Azerbaijan, including 38.6 percent women.

The unemployment benefit increased by 3.6 percent in Azerbaijan in October 2015 compared to September. Taking into account the inflation for the month (0.1 percent), the real amount of the benefit increased by 3.5 percent.

As of November 1, 2015, the unemployment benefit reached 264.6 manat compared to 255.4 manat as of October 1, 243.4 manat as of July 1, 254.4 manat as of April 1 and 289.2 manat as of January 1, 2015.

As of November 1, some 1,893 people received the benefit versus 1,955 people as of October 1, 2015.

Distribution of unemployed individuals and those who receive unemployment benefit in towns and regions as of November 1, 2015 (people):

As of November 1, 2015, the largest number of unemployed (659 of 11,887 people received benefits) was registered in 12 administrative districts of Baku and 18 regions of Aran economic region (7,306 and 358 respectively).

The number of unemployed decreased in the country due to the good economic policy pursued by Azerbaijan. The diversification of Azerbaijan's economy, reducing its dependence on the oil sector, the development of non-oil sector and other measures contribute to the further development of the country.

The Azerbaijani government continues taking measures to increase employment. Thus, the State Employment Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare holds regular job fairs. The Azerbaijan State Economy University successfully held a labor fair entitled 'Graduate 2015' in October.

Some 50 public and private organizations and companies presented more than 8,000 vacancies. Some 2,500 graduates from 40 higher and secondary educational institutions, including 16 foreign universities of US, Turkey, Russia, Great Britain and other countries participated in the fair.

Social Security

According to the Azerbaijani State Social Protection Fund, as of November 1, more than 3.1 million employees were provided with social insurance. Thus, the number of people registered in the individual registration system has increased by 5.92 percent since early 2015.

Some 16,147 people more were registered in the system in October. The total number of socially insured people reached 3,152,503 people, including 59.19 percent of men and 40.81 percent - women.

Nearly 5,000 families left the targeted social assistance system in Azerbaijan. In October, the number of families receiving the targeted social assistance decreased by four percent (or 4,535 families) compared to the same period of last year.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, some 112,385 families receive the targeted social assistance. As of November 1, 2015, the average amount of the targeted social assistance per family was 153.63 manat, which is 17 percent more than in October 2014.