BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 26. As many as 1.5 billion manat ($880 million) worth of loans were issued to small businesses in Azerbaijan by late January 2025.
The data obtained by Trend from the country's Central Bank shows that this figure decreased by six million manat ($3.5 million), or 0.4 percent, compared to the end of last January (1.55 billion manat, or $910 million).
To note, the total business loan portfolio of banks operating in Azerbaijan amounted to 14.7 billion manat ($8.6 billion) by the end of January. This represents an increase of 13.9 percent, or 1.7 billion manat ($1 billion), compared to the previous year when the business loan portfolio stood at 12.9 billion manat ($7.5 billion).
As of January 1 this year, there are a whopping 12,026 small business entities making waves in Azerbaijan.
The largest number of small businesses operate in trade and repair of vehicles (4,133), and the smallest in production, distribution, and supply of electricity, gas, and steam (42).