Azerbaijan has long been known as a country shaped by mega projects. It is precisely these large-scale initiatives that have enabled the country to achieve rapid economic growth over the past three decades, transforming it from one of the world’s poorest post-Soviet states into an upper‑middle‑income economy. The numbers speak for themselves. In 1992, just one year after regaining independence, Azerbaijan’s GDP per capita stood at around $60. Thirty years later, it exceeded $7,000. In other words, over three decades Azerbaijan’s GDP per capita increased by more than 100 times — a record achieved by only a handful of nations worldwide. This achievement is even more remarkable given that the country’s population grew by nearly 50 percent during the same period.
