Azerbaijan’s export structure is changing faster than ever

For more than three decades, one of Azerbaijan’s most important economic objectives has been reducing its dependence on hydrocarbons. Like many resource-rich nations, Azerbaijan has long exhibited the classic symptoms of the so-called “Dutch disease”—an economic phenomenon in which booming natural resource exports strengthen one sector while weakening the competitiveness of the rest of the economy. Diversifying both GDP and exports has therefore remained at the heart of the country’s long-term economic strategy.