According to the updated World Bank forecast for Europe and Central Asia, this year the economy of Azerbaijan against the background of more active recovery will increase by 5%.
“It is expected that in 2021 the growth rate of Azerbaijan GDP will accelerate to 5% due to the rapid restoration of both the oil and non-oil sectors,” the Bank says, which quotes Interfax Azerbaijan.
According to the organization’s estimates, the growth of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan in 2021 will be 7.1%. Along with this, the bank lowered the forecast for 2022 to 3.1% from 4.5%, for 2023 – up to 2.7% from 3.4%.
According to experts, the average annual GDP growth rates in 2022-2023 will slow down to 2.9%. Growth during this period will support the increase in public investment, as well as non-energy sectors. Also on the growth rates will be influenced by an increase in the quota of Azerbaijan in the framework of the OPEC + transaction and the increase in gas production.
Rising energy prices will have a positive effect on the balance of payments. In particular, the current account surplus in 2021 will amount to 6.9% of GDP, in 2022 – 6.4% of GDP, in 2023 – 4.5% of GDP.