Population's incomes rise

By Amina Nazarli - AzerNews 

Despite fluctuations in oil prices in the world market along with a devaluation of the national currency in early 2015, the incomes of Azerbaijanis are on the rise.

From January to June of the current year, Azerbaijani income earnings reached a total of 19.8 billion manats, an increase of about 6.2 percent from the previous year, according to the State Statistics Committee.

In 2014, total population income increased by 4.8 percent. The average monthly salary amounted to 443 manats, while the average monthly pension was at 173.4 manats.

Statistics show that 74.2 percent of household incomes went to final consumption expenditure, 9.4 percent to taxes, social insurance and voluntary membership fees, while 2.4 percent of incomes were allocated to payment interest on loans, and 14 percent to fees.

Income per capita grew at a rate of 4.9 percent during the period as annual inflation held steady at 3.5 percent.

Earlier in January, Rauf Salimov, the deputy chairman of the State Statistics Committee said that in 2014, 127,000 new jobs were created, which led to the reduction of unemployment and poverty in the country. “That is, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percent and amounted to 4.9 percent, the poverty level by 0.3 percent and amounted to 5 percent.”

The country’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 11.5 percent during the past 11 years.

“Azerbaijan’s economy constituted 50 percent of the economy of the South Caucasus in 2004 and now the share of our country has reached 75 percent,” Shahin Mustafayev, the Azerbaijan’s Economy and Industry Minister said in January.

He noted that in the past five years, economic growth was ensured by the development of the non-oil sector and the share of the non-oil sector in the GDP increased from 47 to 60 percent.