Strategically positioned at the confluence of southwestern Asia with southeastern Europe north of Iran and south of Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan shipped US$22.2 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2021. That dollar amount reflects a 45.1% increase from $15.3 billion in 2017.
From 2020 to 2021, the overall value of Azerbaijani exported products accelerated by 61.6% compared to $13.7 billion during 2020.

Azerbaijan’s 3 most valuable export products are crude oil, petroleum gases, and processed petroleum oils. Collectively, that trio of major products represent 87.4% of the overall revenue paid for all Azerbaijani exports during 2021. Such a high percentage indicates an intensely concentrated portfolio of exports.

Azerbaijan’s Major Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 84.3% of products exported from Azerbaijan were bought by importers in: Italy (41.6% of Azerbaijan’s global total), Turkey (12.7%), Russia (4.1%), Israel (4%), Croatia (3.4%), Georgia (3%), Germany (2.9%), India (2.7%), Portugal (2.65%), Tunisia (2.6%), Spain (2.5%) and Ukraine (2%).

From a continental perspective, 69.7% of Azerbaijan exports by value was delivered to European countries while another 25.6% was sold to importers in Asia.

Smaller percentages went to Africa (3%), North America (1.3%), Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia.

Given Azerbaijan’s population of 10.1 million people, its total $22.2 billion in 2021 exports translates to roughly $2,200 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That dollar metric eclipses the average $1,400 per capita one year earlier during 2020.

Azerbaijan’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Azerbaijani global shipments during 2021. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Azerbaijan.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$19.6 billion (88.4% of total exports)
2. Plastics, plastic articles: $442.2 million (2%)
3. Fruits, nuts: $410.1 million (1.8%)
4. Cotton: $273 million (1.2%)
5. Vegetables: $220.2 million (1%)
6. Gems, precious metals: $205.6 million (0.9%)
7. Aluminum: $188.5 million (0.8%)
8. Fertilizers: $121.3 million (0.5%)
9. Organic chemicals: $99.8 million (0.4%)
10. Iron, steel: $88.8 million (0.4%)

Azerbaijan’s top 10 exports accounted for 97.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Fertilizers represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 1,002% from 2020 to 2021.

In second place for improving export sales were the metals iron and steel, via a 199.4% advance.

Azerbaijan’s shipments of plastics, plastic articles: posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 168.6%.

The leading decliner among Azerbaijan’s top 10 export categories was vegetables, thanks to its -13.4% drop year over year.

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, crude oil represents Azerbaijan’s most valuable exported product at 59.5% of the country’s total global sales. In second place were petroleum gases (25%) trailed by processed petroleum oils (2.9%), uncarded cotton (0.9%), unwrought gold (also 0.9%), ethylene polymers (0.8%), miscellaneous fresh fruits (also 0.8%), fresh or chilled tomatoes (0.7%), then nitrogenous fertilizers (0.5%).

Products Behind Azerbaijan’s Best Trade Surpluses

Overall Azerbaijan achieved an estimated $10.5 billion trade surplus for 2021, expanding by 250.1% from the $3 billion in black ink one year earlier.

The following types of Azerbaijani product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$19.3 billion (Up by 64.9% since 2020)
2. Fruits, nuts: $274.5 million (Up by 20%)
3. Cotton: $267.4 million (Up by 77.6%)
4. Vegetables: $132.5 million (Down by -24.3%)
5. Gems, precious metals: $91.4 million (Down by -50.7%)
6. Fertilizers: $75.5 million (Reversing a -$90.3 million deficit)
7. Aluminum: $74.4 million (Up by 260.6%)
8. Organic chemicals: $59.5 million (Up by 238.6%)
9. Plastics, plastic articles: $54.2 million (Reversing a -$181.4 million deficit)
10. Copper: $30.9 million (Up by 668.5%)

Azerbaijan has highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil and, to a lesser extent, petroleum gases and refined oils. In turn, these cashflows indicate Azerbaijan’s strong competitive advantages under the category called mineral fuels including oil.

Products Causing Azerbaijan’s Worst Trade Deficits

Below are exports from Azerbaijan that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Azerbaijan’s goods trail Azerbaijani importer spending on foreign products.

1. Machinery including computers: -US$1.7 billion (Up by 13.8% since 2020)
2. Vehicles: -$1.2 billion (Up by 43.5%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$966.7 million (Up by 1.6%)
4. Pharmaceuticals: -$524.5 million (Up by 39.3%)
5. Articles of iron or steel: -$496.4 million (Down by -9.6%)
6. Cereals: -$378.8 million (Up by 5.1%)
7. Wood: -$323.1 million (Up by 25.5%)
8. Iron, steel: -$255.3 million (Down by -25.9%)
9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$208.1 million (Down by -5.2%)
10. Paper, paper items: -$195.7 million (Up by 19.2%)

Azerbaijan has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the product category titled machinery including computer.

Azerbaijani Export Companies

Not one Azerbaijani corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000 for 2017.

Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Azerbaijan. Selected examples are shown below.

• Akkord Industry Construction Investment Corp (construction materials)
• Azal Avia Cargo (cargo airline)
• AzMeCo (methanol)
• AzSamand (vehicles)
• Bahra Biscuit Factory (food)
• Ganja Auto Plant (vehicles)
• Gazelli Group (cosmetics)
• Inter Glass (glass products)
• Shollar water (beverages)
• SOCAR (oil, gas)

 

In macroeconomic terms, Azerbaijan’s total exported goods represent 13.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2021 ($160.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 13.8% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2021 compares to 9% one year earlier. Those percentages indicate a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Azerbaijan’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Azerbaijan’s capital city is Baku, derived from Persian wording that translates to “Wind-pounded city”.

See also Italy’s Top Trading Partners, Turkey’s Top Trading Partners , Crude Oil Exports by Country and Sweet Cherries Exports by Country

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Profiles, The World Factbook. Accessed on September 1, 2022

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 1, 2022

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 1, 2022

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 1, 2022

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 1, 2022

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 1, 2022

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Azerbaijan. Accessed on September 1, 2022

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 1, 2022