Resource information
Azerbaijan’s performance on the twin
goals has been commendable. The middle class has doubled in
size and extreme poverty has almost been eliminated in the
space of a decade. At the same time, regional differences
persist, with significantly higher poverty rates in lagging
regions, and Baku dominating overwhelmingly in terms of
share of GDP. Disparities in welfare also persist between
rural and urban areas as well as across social groups. As
the share of the poor fell in the bottom 40 percent of the
welfare distribution, the share of the vulnerable has
increased. All of this suggests taking a closer look at the
challenges facing Azerbaijan as it seeks to sustain and
‘even out’ progress on the twin goals.
