Azerbaijan's capital investment climbs 13.8% to $5.5B in first half of 2026

Azerbaijan drew 9.295 billion manats ($5.47 billion) in capital investment during the first half of 2026, a 13.8 percent increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to figures presented by the government. The rise underscores the momentum in the country's investment climate as officials court new foreign capital across energy, infrastructure and post-conflict reconstruction.

The headline figure was highlighted by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, who addressed the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum and set out Azerbaijan's longer-term record: more than $350 billion invested in the economy over the past two decades, with roughly half of that sum coming from foreign investors. Asadov framed the trajectory as evidence of a stable, diversifying economy that continues to attract international partners.

Yet the first-half data also exposed a familiar tension. Investment into the non-oil sector fell to 6.132 billion manats, a decline of 5.5 percent year-on-year — a reminder that the diversification agenda still leans on public spending and energy-linked projects to sustain overall growth. Narrowing the gap between headline investment and durable private non-oil capital remains one of the government's central challenges.

The forum appearance fits a broader pattern of Baku deepening ties across the Caspian basin and Central Asia, where cross-border investment corridors and the Middle Corridor trade route have become strategic priorities. Azerbaijan's strengthening fiscal position — strategic foreign exchange reserves reached $85.8 billion as of July 1, 2026 — gives the state room to co-finance infrastructure and reconstruction in the Karabakh region under its 'Great Return' programme.

Source: AzerNews. Figures as presented by Azerbaijani officials at the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum.