The results for January-August 2026 are particularly notable in terms of investment: investment in the information and communications sector increased by 49.4% in real terms to ₼320 million ($188.24 million). During the same period, the value added generated by the sector increased by 10.7% to ₼1.775 billion ($1.04 billion). These two figures actually illustrate the main question facing Azerbaijan’s digital economy.
On the one hand, investment is increasing by 49.4%. On the other hand, the sector’s real value added is growing by 10.7%. In other words, the increase in capital investment is considerably higher than the sector’s current economic growth.
This is not a problem in itself. In particular, returns from infrastructure-related investments may materialize over years rather than immediately. The main issue is how much additional value, productivity, new services and exports the ₼320 million ($188.24 million) investment can generate in the coming years.
The information and communications sector currently accounts for 2% of Azerbaijan’s total GDP. In January-August, the country’s GDP amounted to ₼87.7 billion ($51.59 billion), of which ₼61.5 billion ($36.18 billion) came from the non-oil and gas sector. The ICT sector’s share of non-oil and gas GDP reaching 2.9% also shows that the sector is still relatively small.
Nevertheless, while the non-oil and gas economy grew by 2.1% in real terms in the first eight months of 2026, growth in the information and communications sector stood at 10.7%. The ICT sector is growing significantly faster than the economy as a whole. The bigger issue is what lies behind this growth and whether it is translating into higher productivity, stronger investment returns and greater economic value.
The sector providing ₼2.748 billion ($1.616 billion) worth of services in the first eight months of 2026 presents an interesting detail in this regard. Of this amount, ₼868 million ($510.6 million), or 31.6%, came from mobile communications, while ₼455 million ($267.6 million), or 16.6%, came from internet services. Software development and related consulting services accounted for ₼435 million ($255.9 million), or 15.8%, of total services.
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