BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 27. The share of the tourism sector in the economy of Azerbaijan rose to 5.3%, the highest in history, the Chairman of the State Tourism Agency, Fuad Naghiyev, said at the public discussions on the topic "Current state and development prospects of tourism in Azerbaijan," Trend reports.
According to him, despite regional geopolitical events in recent times affecting the tourism statistics in our country, the analysis of official data shows that tourism is developing with a positive dynamic.
The chairman noted that from 2021 through 2025, during the post-pandemic period, the production of GDP in the fields of tourist accommodation and public catering increased by an average of 24.5% per year, reaching 3.6 billion manat ($2.1 billion).
"This is 23.2% higher than the level before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to preliminary results, the total added value created in the tourism sector reached 6.9 billion manat (around $4 billion) in 2025. As a result, in 2025, the share of the tourism sector in the economy rose to 5.3%," he explained.
Naghiyev emphasized that the rapid growth dynamics have also supported trends in the creation of new jobs in this sector.
"In the post-pandemic period, 58,000 new paid jobs were created in the tourist accommodation and public catering sectors, with 21,000 of these jobs expected in 2025. As a result, the share of the sector in the paid labor market has increased from 1.5% to 4.6% over the past five years.
Over the past five years, total tourist expenditures increased by 7.7 billion manat ($4.5 billion), reaching nine billion manat ($5.3 billion) in 2025, which is 39% higher than the pre-pandemic level. Additionally, compared to 2019, per capita tourism expenditures in inbound tourism are expected to rise by 74% in 2025.
Thus, in the past five years, hotel revenues have increased by 536 million manat ($314 million), and turnover in catering establishments has grown by more than two billion manat ($1.2 billion). Also, in January 2026, the number of foreign citizens visiting Azerbaijan is expected to rise by 5% compared to 2025," he added.
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