Capital City: Baku
	It is %T:%M %A in Baku

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Economic trends

Azerbaijan is an economy in transition where the State continues to play a dominant role. It has substantial oil reserves and a significant agronomic potential. With the help of IMF, Azerbaijan has been pursuing a successful economic stabilization program since late 1990s, resulting into a GDP growth rate of above 10% since 2000. It reached 31% in 2006, 29.3% in 2007 due to rise in global oil prices. IMF forecasts the GDP growth rate to 23.2% in 2008. However, the major challenges faced by the country are: a high inflation (16,6% in 2007), high degree of poverty (nearly 45% of the population still lives below poverty line), and its over-dependence on oil sector.

Main branches of industry

The agricultural sector contributes nearly 12% to the GDP, but due to lack of modernisation the productivity remains low. The main food-crops are wheat, barley, corn, wine grapes, and potatoes and the important industrial-crops are cotton, silk, and tobacco. Azerbaijan has 0.7% of the world oil reserves – hence this sector attracts heavy foreign investments. The Apsheron peninsula is one of the richest oil regions of the world. However, Azerbaijan wants to diversify its economy and is encouraging investments in other industrial sectors like machinery, chemical, cement, iron & steel, and textiles. The widespread salt springs in the country is resulting into flourishing of the health resorts. The old craft of carpet weaving is still practiced. The services sector contributes nearly one-third to the GDP.

International trade

The share of foreign trade in country’s GDP is nearly 125%. Petroleum products now account for 90% of the country's total exports. Azerbaijan's top three export partners are: Italy, France and Russia. The commodities mainly exported are mineral fuels, ships & boats, fruits & nuts, inorganic chemicals, and plastics. The top three import partners are: Russia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. Azerbaijan mainly imports machinery, mineral fuels & oils, electrical & electronic equipment, vehicles, and metals.