Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan has experienced rampant economic development in the past eight years, posting growth in areas spanning oil production, industries, investments and trade, a state-run research center has said.

The country’s budget revenues surged more than nine-fold, its gross domestic product more than tripled, with non-oil GDP doubling, while investments in the Azerbaijani economy nearly tripled from 2003-2010, the Strategic Research Center under the Azerbaijani President said in a report.

The South Caucasus republic’s foreign trade increased 5.4 times and its strategic currency reserves increased 19 times in this period, it said.

Per capita GDP increased more than five-fold to 4,653 manats ($5,890) in 2010. Also, the unemployment rate dropped 1.6 fold and the poverty level almost five fold. Citizens’ incomes exceeded inflation in the country 1.9 times, which led to a 2.3-fold increase in the incomes of the population, says the report, titled "Azerbaijan’s socio-economic development in 2003-2011".

Azerbaijan’s strategic currency reserves reached $34.2 billion in the first quarter of 2011. Almost $25.8bn of the amount is made up by assets of the state oil fund Sofaz, which holds revenues from crude exports, while central bank reserves accounted for around $6.7bn.

The report said further that sustainable development was seen in the country’s industries, which are one of the key drivers of economic growth accounting for more than 50 percent of GDP (52.5 pct in 2010).

Industrial production surged 4.4-fold to over 21.8 billion manats ($27.6 billion) from 2003 to 2010. Average growth rate in industrial production reached 14.7 pct.

"The historic record high figures posted in the country’s oil and gas production are updated every year. Thus, whereas the highest level of oil output – 23.5 million tons - was previously reported in 1941 and that of gas output – 14.9 billion cubic meters – in 1982, in 2007 production of oil reached 42.6m tons and that of natural gas 16.9bn cubic meters. The figures were 44.5m tons and 23.4bn cubic meters respectively in 2008, 50.4m tons and 23.6bn cubic meters in 2009, and 50.8m tons and 26.3bn cubic meters in 2010.

235 companies with foreign capital from over 30 countries are currently operating in Azerbaijan’s industrial sector.

The country’s agricultural production has increased by an average of 3.7 pct per year since 2003. Whereas output made up 1.366bn manats ($1.729bn) in 2003, the figure increased 2.8 times to 3.877bn manats ($4.907bn) in 2010, the research center estimates.

"In terms of strengthening food safety on the nationwide level, it is worthy of note that Azerbaijan is fully meeting its needs for potatoes, vegetables, melons, fruits, milk, beef and lamb, sugar, fruit juices and other basic foods."

The report also said foreign investments accounted for 53.5 pct of the investments made into the Azerbaijani economy in 2003-2010, which totaled $84.3bn. Two-thirds of the foreign investments were foreign direct investments (FDI). Along with attracting funds from abroad, Azerbaijan has itself turned into an investor. In the past eight years, the country channeled funds totaling almost $5.7bn, or an average of $711m per year, into other countries.

Investments in the Azerbaijani economy have surged since 2003 - by 2.9 times, with domestic investments rising 7.7 times.

The report also said the share of domestic investments in total investments has risen to 75.7 pct from 24.8 pct, while that of foreign ones dropped accordingly to 24.3 pct from 75.2 pct.

Whereas investments constituted about $4.8bn in 2003, the indicator increased 2.6 times to over $12.5bn in 2010, with domestic investments surging eight-fold, while foreign investments dropping 15.5 pct.