Fitch Solutions: Azerbaijan's GDP to grow by 2.5 pct in 2021

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Fitch Solutions forecasts that Azerbaijan’s economy will grow by 2.5 percent in 2021.

"We at Fitch Solutions retain our view that real GDP growth in Azerbaijan will recover by 2.5 percent in 2021 following a 4.3 percent contraction in 2020," the report said.

At the same time, Fitch Solutions estimates Azerbaijan's GDP growth to accelerate to 3.3 percent in 2022.

The report notes that Azerbaijan's State Statistical Committee reported that the economy grew by 3.6 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of the year.

"The oil and gas sector, which accounted for 28.4 percent of GDP in 2020, continued to show decreased value addition of 1.2 percent compared to a 5.7 percent increase in value add from the non-oil and gas sector," the report added.

Earlier, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings forecasted Azerbaijan's real GDP to recover to 2.5 percent in 2021 and 2.8 percent in 2022 as oil prices and aggregate demand recover but constrained by the impact of low oil prices on oil and gas investments

Additionally, the World Bank forecasted the country's GDP growth rate to rise to 5.0 percent, while the Asian Development Bank forecasts the 2.2-percent GDP growth in Azerbaijan in 2021.