Azerbaijan's Non-Oil Exports Rise 20.5% to $3.2bn in Nine Months

Azerbaijan's non-oil exports, excluding non-monetary gold, rose 20.5 per cent year on year to $3.2 billion in January to September 2026, and sales to Georgia climbed to $443 million, according to the October issue of the "Export Review" published on 29 October by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC).

The CAERC review puts September's non-oil exports at $372.8 million, 50.2 per cent more than in September 2025. The full report, a 19-page document in Azerbaijani, sets each destination against the same period of last year: Georgia took $443 million of Azerbaijani non-oil goods in the nine months against $244.8 million a year earlier, a rise of about 81 per cent by CBJ's calculation.

Georgia closes in on Türkiye

Russia remained the largest market at $881.4 million, almost unchanged from $878.9 million in the first nine months of 2025. Türkiye followed at $475.2 million, then Georgia at $443 million, Switzerland at $327.9 million and Ukraine at $121.2 million. In September alone, goods worth $67.2 million went to Russia and $56.5 million to Georgia, almost double the $28.4 million of September 2025. Switzerland took $43.5 million, Türkiye $40.2 million and the United Arab Emirates $29.8 million in the month.

The Georgian figure extends the trend CBJ reported from the September issue, when non-oil exports to Georgia were up 79 per cent after eight months. It also comes in a week in which the two governments met at their intergovernmental commission and signed a border crossing protocol.

What is growing

By product group, CAERC reports that exports of sugar and sugar confectionery increased 2.4 times in the nine months. Aluminium and articles of aluminium rose 41 per cent, articles of ferrous metals 32.2 per cent, animal or vegetable fats and oils 31.6 per cent, copper and articles of copper 21.7 per cent and cotton 16.6 per cent. Coffee and tea, edible fruits, vegetables and ferrous metals also grew.

Agricultural exports rose 16.5 per cent to $776.8 million and agro-industrial products 28.6 per cent to $299.7 million, so the two together grew 19.6 per cent to $1.08 billion. Among individual goods, gold ranked first at $313.1 million, copper ores and concentrates second at $213.5 million and tomatoes third at $172.3 million. In September, gold ($41.9 million), copper ores and concentrates ($29.8 million) and mineral or chemical nitrogen fertilisers ($21.6 million) led the list.

The review's ranking of non-state exporters for the nine months is headed by the representative office of Azerbaijan International Mining Company Limited, followed by Azerbaijan Sugar Production Union, Prime Cotton, Baku Steel Company, Tabaterra, Prime Export, Vvest Stream, Agrarco, Silk Way Airlines and P-Agro. Among state-owned exporters, the list is headed by the Marketing and Economic Operations Department of SOCAR, with AzerGold, SOCAR Polymer, Azeraluminium and Azerpambiq among the others.

The sugar producer's own figures show how much one company can move the totals. According to APA, Azerbaijan Sugar Production Union, part of Azersun Holding, exported $112.1 million in January to September 2026 against $46.6 million a year earlier, an increase of 140.6 per cent. CAERC also reports service exports: the Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos) sold $19.6 million of satellite telecommunication services to nearly 95 companies in 36 countries, with exports making up 61 per cent of its revenue.

Why gold is taken out

CAERC's headline excludes non-monetary gold because large one-off gold movements have distorted the trade figures this year. The World Bank's Azerbaijan Monthly Economic Update for October, which covers January to August, says non-monetary gold exports reached $3.7 billion in that period, almost all booked by June and linked to the State Oil Fund's portfolio rebalancing. On the same basis it put non-oil exports excluding gold at $2.8 billion, up 17.6 per cent.

What it means for business

The nine-month figures show non-oil growth accelerating late in the year: the 20.5 per cent rise compares with 17.6 per cent after eight months in the World Bank's count, and September alone was up by half. For exporters and logistics firms, Georgia's rise is the clearest shift. It is now close to Türkiye as a market for Azerbaijani non-oil goods, and in September it outbought Türkiye, Switzerland and the UAE. Azernews described Georgia as among the fastest-growing major destinations for Azerbaijani products. Sales to Russia, by contrast, were flat, which leaves companies more exposed to demand in the South Caucasus and Türkiye. The concentration of growth in a few metal, sugar and cotton producers also means that a handful of company results will continue to shape the national total in the fourth quarter.