of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company,
began in November 1997. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable
problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition
from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy
resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only recently
begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and
structures are slowly being replaced. One obstacle to economic
progress is the need for stepped up foreign investment in the
non-energy sector. A second obstacle is the continuing conflict with
Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Trade with Russia and the
other former Soviet republics is declining in importance while trade
is building with Turkey and the nations of Europe. Long-term
prospects will depend on world oil prices, the location of new
pipelines in the region, and Azerbaijan's ability to manage its oil
wealth.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $26.65 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
11.2% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,400 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14.1% industry: 45.7% services: 40.2% (2002 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
50.4% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
49% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 27.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
36 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.1% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
4.99 million (2003)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture and forestry 41%, industry 7%, services 52% (2001)
Unemployment rate:
1.1% (official rate is 1.2%) (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.063 billion
expenditures: $2.202 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003)
Public debt:
16.3% of GDP (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco;
cattle, pigs, sheep, goats
Industries:
petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment;
steel, iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles
Industrial production growth rate:
6.1% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:
18.23 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
16.65 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
700 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
400 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
307,200 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
140,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
589 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
5.72 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
6.72 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
1 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
62.3 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance:
$-2.021 billion (2003)
Exports:
$2.605 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
oil and gas 90%, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs
Exports - partners:
Italy 34.1%, Czech Republic 11.4%, Germany 10.5%, France 8.2%,
Turkey 5.9%, Georgia 4.5%, Russia 4.5% (2003)
Imports:
$2.498 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, oil products, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Russia 15.5%, Turkey 12%, UK 8.7%, Germany 8.1%, China 7.8%,
Ukraine 5.4%, Italy 4.6%, US 4.6%, Kazakhstan 4.3% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$820.9 million (2003)
Debt - external:
$1.575 billion (2003)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $140 million (2000 est.)
Currency:
Azerbaijani manat (AZM)
Currency code:
AZM
Exchange rates:
Azerbaijani manats per US dollar - 4,910.73 (2003), 4,860.82
(2002), 4,656.58 (2001), 4,474.15 (2000), 4,120.17 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Azerbaijan
Telephones - main lines in use:
923,800 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
870,000 (2002)
Telephone system:
general assessment: inadequate; requires considerable expansion and
modernization; teledensity of 10 main lines per 100 persons is low
(2002)
domestic: the majority of telephones are in Baku and other
industrial centers - about 700 villages still without public
telephone service; satellite service connects Baku to a modern
switch in its exclave of Naxcivan
international: country code - 994; the old Soviet system of cable
and microwave is still serviceable; a satellite connection to Turkey
enables Baku to reach about 200