BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 27. Excise tax revenues in Azerbaijan reached 1.55 billion manat ($911.7 million), surpassing the forecast by 2.7 million manat ($1.5 million) or 0.2 percent, and marking a 103.5 million manat ($60.8 million) or 7.1 percent increase compared to 2023.
Data obtained by Trend from the draft law on the execution of the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2024 shows that of the total amount collected, 86.9 percent or 1.35 billion manat ($794.1 million) came from domestic operations, while 13.1 percent or 204.4 million manat ($120.2 million) were collected through customs authorities.
Domestic excise tax revenues were slightly below the forecast of 1.36 billion manat ($799.9 million), totaling 1.35 billion manat ($794.1 million)—16.7 million manat ($9.8 million) or 1.2 percent less than expected. However, this still marked a year-on-year increase of 123.4 million manat ($72.5 million) or 10 percent. Contributions were nearly evenly split between sectors, with 49.9 percent or 674 million manat ($396.4 million) from the oil sector and 50.1 percent or 677.3 million manat ($398.4 million) from the non-oil sector.
Excise tax revenues from the oil sector fell short of the forecasted 698 million manat ($410.5 million), reaching 674 million manat ($396.4 million)—24 million manat ($14.1 million) or 3.4 percent less than expected, though still 4.6 million manat ($2.7 million) or 0.7 percent higher than in 2023. This shortfall was attributed to lower-than-anticipated production and sales of oil products within the country.
In contrast, the non-oil sector outperformed expectations. Revenues reached 677.3 million manat ($398.4 million), exceeding the 670 million manat ($394.1 million) forecast by 7.3 million manat ($4.2 million) or 1.1 percent, and rising by 118.8 million manat ($69.8 million) or 21.3 percent compared to the previous year. This growth was largely driven by increased excise collections from tobacco products, which saw a 4.1 percent rise in production compared to 2023. Additionally, changes in legislation required excise payments to be made at the time of acquiring excise stamps.
Regarding imports, excise tax collections totaled 204.4 million manat ($120.2 million), exceeding the forecast of 185 million manat ($108.8 million) by 19.4 million manat ($11.4 million), or 10.5 percent. This excess was driven by higher-than-expected imports of passenger cars, motorcycles subject to registration, and buses.
However, a decrease in excise tax collections compared to 2023 was noted due to a significant increase in the import of hybrid and fully electric vehicles, which are subject to reduced or no excise duties under current legislation.
