Azerbaijan's GDP volume goes to be among TOP-50 countries

By AzerNews

Azerbaijan will enter the TOP-50 countries for GDP volume within the next five years, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said on December 23.

He made these remarks at the conference titled 'Azerbaijan 2013-2018: Towards new targets' organized by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.

"If in 2003 Azerbaijan ranked 108th for GDP volume and 154th for GDP per capita, in 2012 it ranked 69th and 78th, respectively," the minister said.

Azerbaijan's GDP increased by 3.4 times, GDP in the non-oil sector by 2.7 times and GDP per capita by three times in past 10 years, he said.

"In accordance to the development concept 'Azerbaijan-2020: Outlook for the future', it is planned to double the GDP per capita," Sharifov said.

The minister also said Azerbaijan plans to rank third in the volume of the insurance market among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2018.

"Today the insurance market is one of the most dynamically developing spheres of Azerbaijan's economy and a lot of attention is paid on the development of this sector. Our aim is to turn insurance into an additional tool that will improve the social support to the country's population and help them prevent material losses," the minister said.

The total volume of premiums of all insurance companies operating in the country amounted to $368.88 million in January-November 2013 which is an increase of 17.86 percent and the payments totaled 110.48 million manats, an increase of 33.85 percent during the reporting period.

Some 28 insurance companies and one re-insurance company operate in Azerbaijan.

The minister also noted Azerbaijan plans to save the foreign debt rate at the level which doesn't exceed 10 percent of GDP in the next five years.

As of today the country's foreign debt amounts to 8.3 percent of GDP, according to the minister.