Foreign Trade Decreased by 35%

During 10 months of this year the volume of foreign trade operations of Azerbaijan with 158 countries comprised $ 17.2 billion, which is 35.2% less than in the comparable period in 2014. At the same time, exports of goods fell twice, the State Customs Committee reported.

Since the beginning of the year there has been exported $ 9 765 million, which is 49.1% less than in January-October last year. The share of the public sector accounts for 88.7% of exports. The share of CIS countries in the export of goods from Azerbaijan is only 4.1% ($ 407.1 million). At the same time hydrocarbon feedstock (oil, oil products and natural gas) in value terms is 80.2% share in export of goods from Azerbaijan.

Over the past period, the volume of imports of goods increased by 1% to $ 7 billion 441 million. The share of state-owned enterprises accounted for 17.2% of imported goods. Imported were oil products totaling $ 109,500,000, which is 57.3% less than in the same period of 2014.

In spite of the increase in imports, the balance of foreign trade turnover Azerbaijan remains positive (+ $ 2 billion 324 million).

Some experts believe that if the current price of crude oil remains in the first half of 2016, the foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan may become negative. --08D-