Is drought, lack of water a problem or a pretext?

In the first half of 2024, food products worth 1 billion 131 million 483 thousand USD were imported into the country, which is 73 million 54 thousand USD, by 6.9% more than in the same period of 2023, State Customs Committee (SCC). In January-June 2023, food products were imported into the country for 1 billion 58 million 429 thousand USD. Over  the past 5 years, imports of food products in January-June increased by 55.3%, and over the past 10 years - by more than 2.2 times.

The consumer price index for food, beverages and tobacco products in Azerbaijan in June 2024 amounted to 99.9% compared to the previous month and 100.2% compared to June 2023. That is, in June, food products fell in price by 0.1% compared to the previous month and rose in price by 0.25% compared to June last year.

On January 4, 2021, the Tariff Council (TC) of the Republic of Azerbaijan responded positively to the request of the State Oil Company (SOCAR) regarding an increase in retail prices for natural gas, AI-92 gasoline and diesel fuel.

According to information published by the State Statistics Committee (SSC), in January-May 2024, agricultural products worth 3 billion 352 million manats were produced in Azerbaijan, by 3.1% more than in the same period last year. The Committee reports that over the past year, the cost of crop production produced in the country increased by 7.4% to 783 million manats, and the cost of livestock products increased by 1.7% to 2 billion 569 million manats.