Increase in import and decrease in export of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 11 months of this year

According to the report of the international group Tasnim News Agency, in the information of the State Statistics Committee of the Republic Azerbaijan stated that during the 11 months of 2023, the gross domestic product was 110 billion and 200 million manats in the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is reported that this amount has increased by 0.8 percent compared to the previous year.

This report states: Value added tax in the oil and gas sector decreased by 1.6 percent and in the non-oil sector by 3.2 percent. The percentage has increased. 41.2% of GDP in industry, 9.9% in trade and automobiles, 6.3% in transportation and storage, 6.1% in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 5.0% in construction, 2.4% in tourism, accommodation and hospitality, 1.7% in information fields. and communication and 18.0% decreased to other fields. The net tax on products and imports constitutes 9.4% of the GDP.

In eleven months, the GDP per person was equal to 10,856 manats.

The foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the 10 months of this year was 37 billion and 367 million dollars. Export was 23 billion 193 million dollars and import was 14 billion 174 million dollars. During this period, imports have increased by 4.6%, but exports have decreased by 7.7%.

Vuqar Bayramov, an economic expert and representative of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, says: the lower price of energy products compared to the previous year reduced exports. However, the upward trend of imports continued. It means that more products have been bought from abroad compared to the same period last year.

This economic expert adds: Import takes currency out of the country and export brings currency. In this regard, the increase in the volume of imports is not desirable in terms of the currency leaving the country. During this period, the import of food products has also increased. The import of beef increased by 93.3%, cigarettes by 48.9%, confectionery flour by 12.7%, chocolate and chocolate products by 12.6%, and fresh vegetables by 4.9%. It is very important to accelerate the import substitution process. In particular, there is a need to eliminate dependence on imports due to the expansion of domestic production of food products.

According to the information until November 1 of this year, the number of salaried workers in the Republic of Azerbaijan is 1 million 729 thousand 400. has been a person 896 thousand and 900 of them worked in the government sector of the economy and 832 thousand and 500 of them worked in the non-government sector.

In terms of salaries, the average nominal monthly salary of salaried employees was 921.1 manats. Is. In January to November 2023, products worth 51.3 billion manats were purchased from commercial networks in the country. Of this amount, 28.7 billion manats, i.e. more than half, are allocated to food products, beverages and tobacco products. For the remaining 22.6 billion manats, non-food goods were purchased. Compared to the same period last year, expenses related to food products increased by 2.4 percent.

During eleven months, everyone earned an average of 459.2 manats per month. More than half of it, 256.8 manats, was spent on food.

Independent Azeri experts and economists constantly state in their statements that spending more than 30% of income on food products indicates poverty. The income is so low and the prices are so high that people cannot spend anything except food.

Azeri economist Natiq Jafarli says: As soon as the price of something rises in the world market, it immediately affects the prices in Azerbaijan. Lays. When the prices in the world go down, this does not immediately affect Azerbaijan.

He believes that the biggest problem of import monopoly is the hegemony of monopoly companies in import. In our country, when government agencies talk about monopoly, they go and check retail stores for some reason. This is a very pointless approach. Those sales centers cannot be monopolists and negotiate on prices. The prices in the country are mainly increased by the wholesale market operators.

This economic expert noted: According to the law, it is not possible to adjust the price in retail stores. No one can come and ask why you are selling apples at this price. A competitive environment should be created so that the market players do not increase their prices. State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan