Azerbaijan earns spot on global e-commerce map Caliber.Az review

An assessment conducted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) predicts that global e-commerce is expected to experience rapid growth spurt in the coming years, including in developing countries. These trends are also evident in Azerbaijan, which ranks among the top ten countries in the Eurasian region in terms of digital trade facilitation. The country's position has improved thanks to foreign trade reforms, as confirmed by studies conducted by relevant UN bodies in the Asia-Pacific region during 2023–2025. The findings of the “2025 UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation” were recently published by Azerbaijan’s Centre for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC).

The global e-commerce market has experienced significant growth in recent years: from 2017 to 2020 alone, the volume of the global online retail market nearly doubled, jumping from $2.3 trillion to $4.5 trillion. These growth rates have remained strong in the following years despite a series of trade crises, a global recession, hyperinflation, and monetary instability. According to research published on the Market.us website on the Global Retail E-Commerce Market, it was valued to be worth $5.75 trillion at the end of 2024 and projected to reach $17.55 trillion by 2034. Thus, the analysis estimates an average annual growth rate of 11.8%, reflecting fundamental shifts in consumer habits and business models worldwide.

The UNCTAD's estimates likewise show that there is a steady global trend of declining offline sales of non-food goods and services, while e-commerce continues to increasingly challenge traditional retail. UN data shows a total of 5.78 billion people worldwide were using mobile devices in 2025, with 5.56 billion having internet access, which creates favourable conditions for the further increase in potential buyers across the digital space. Moreover, due to the low starting point and rapid expansion of regional marketplaces, the annual growth rates of the e-commerce segment in developing countries are often higher than those in developed nations.

These global trends mentioned above can also be felt in Azerbaijan, even though the current e-commerce volumes in its market still pale in comparison to those of leading countries worldwide. According to Irem Cagri Yilandil, the Head of International Development at Trendyol, the retail turnover of e-commerce in the country reached $2 billion last year and is forecasted to grow by 13% annually until 2030. This substantial local market growth points to the effectiveness of measures such as reforms in cashless payments that have been in place since 2019, the development of a well-established network and payment infrastructure, the implementation of digital mobile signature technology and other virtual credentials, and most importantly, the presence of substantial demand in the country for digital marketplace services.

Between 2020 and 2024, the B2C (Business-to-Consumer) retail segment, which facilitates e-commerce between businesses (via online platforms) and individual consumers, experienced multiple growth spurts in Azerbaijan. However, despite the presence of domestic internet portals and e-commerce stores, most local consumers prefer to purchase goods and services from international platforms such as eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, Aliexpress, Trendyol, Temu, and others. The purchases of electronics, IT gadgets, tools, watches, clothing, footwear, cosmetics, souvenirs, and other durable goods dominate these global marketplaces. Thus, the B2C segment in Azerbaijan is largely oriented towards importing products from marketplaces in China, Southeast Asian countries, Türkiye, the UAE, the US as well as various countries in Europe.

It is worth noting that the B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce format is also on the rise in Azerbaijan. The country’s largest digital trade operator, the Azexport.az portal, was established on an initiative by CAERC to promote products from domestic industrial and agricultural enterprises onto the global market. Thanks to Azexport.az, Azerbaijani products are sold in around 150 countries worldwide. The portal is integrated with more than fifteen international e-commerce platforms, including major global marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. Similar structures have been created with the support of other government bodies: an electronic platform for digital trade and public procurement was established under the Ministry of Agriculture, and with backing from KOBIA (the state agency providing development assistance to Small- and Medium-Businesses) the online trading portal Kobmarket.az, which features an export component, has been launched.

The optimisation of legislation together with the development of banking and payment tools, as well as the simplification of mechanisms regulating e-commerce in Azerbaijan, including foreign trade regulations, have not gone unnoticed by the global expert community. CAERC published the results of the "UN Global Survey on Trade Facilitation for Digital and Sustainable Trade 2025" on July 10, according to which Azerbaijan demonstrated a high score of 92.5% across the average of five key areas related to trade facilitation, placing it among the top ten countries in the Eurasian region for 2025. The survey covers five critical dimensions of trade policy: procedure automation, digitalisation, transparency, institutional resilience, and cross-border cooperation.

Experts emphasise that such a high result in Azerbaijan was made possible by the consistent digitalisation of foreign trade processes and the implementation of transparent and sustainable regulatory mechanisms. Moreover, the UN ranking takes not only technical aspects into account but also considers the institutional conditions and interagency coordination.

It is equally important to mention that Azerbaijan actively participates in international initiatives aimed at fostering sustainable “green” trends and developing digital trade, which helps strengthen its position as a regional hub. The UN also acknowledges that the country demonstrates responsiveness to contemporary challenges, such as the expansion and simplification of trade procedures through digital tools and effective management practices.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan is still facing significant challenges in the further development of its e-commerce sector and implementing advanced international best practices.

“For the effective growth of e-commerce in Azerbaijan, a well-developed infrastructure is essential: This includes access to high-speed internet and robust logistics. While Baku is well-equipped in these areas, [other] regions remain insufficiently covered both in terms of internet connectivity and logistics,” noted Yevgeny Lisnyak, a Senior Director at Visa overseeing activities in Ukraine, the CIS and Southeast Europe. The executive, who heads the departments of Strategic Partnerships, Fintech, and Venture Projects at the American payment giant for those regions, spoke at the Fintex Summit 2025, which was hosted in Baku from June 24-25.

The expert emphasised that while e-commerce in Azerbaijan is still underdeveloped, it holds tremendous growth potential: “There is a digitally literate population and high consumer expectations for quality service. However, cash remains a dominant payment method in the economy, and trust in online services is still insufficient.”

He also added that Azerbaijan could look to the digital commerce experiences of countries like China and the United Kingdom, where e-commerce accounts for 35–40% of total retail trade.

Alongside improving access to electronic resources and delivery systems in the regions, Azerbaijan also needs to support domestic multiplex platforms and ensure full access to the world’s largest electronic payment system, PayPal, in addition to implementing a wide-range of "Open Banking" tools which are best suited for trade operations.