Azerbaijan makes major leap in 2026 global attractiveness ranking

Azerbaijan has climbed four places to rank 60th among 146 countries in the 2026 Global Attractiveness Index (GAI), strengthening its position in terms of economic dynamism and sustainability.

Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner and CEO of The European House – Ambrosetti and TEHA Group, announced the ranking during the Second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum (AIIF 2026) in Baku, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

The GAI evaluates 146 countries representing 95% of the global population and 99% of global GDP. Its methodology is audited by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.

“Azerbaijan's key indicators in GAI 2026 include: 60th worldwide in overall attractiveness, 15th worldwide in the Dynamism Index, a public debt-to-GDP ratio of 20.1% (the eighth lowest on the planet), and a 513% increase in scientific publications (fourth worldwide in terms of growth rate),” De Molli said.

He highlighted Azerbaijan’s progress in the Dynamism Index, where the country climbed from 145th to 15th place over the past eight years — the second-largest improvement globally during that period.

Azerbaijan also improved its positions in several other sub-indices, ranking 64th in Positioning, up six places over eight years; 62nd in Sustainability, up 30 places; and 65th in Future Orientation, up 13 places over seven years.

Within the South Caucasus and Central Asia macro-region, Azerbaijan ranked third in overall attractiveness, behind Kazakhstan (56th) and Georgia (59th). It ranked ahead of Uzbekistan (63rd), Armenia (68th), Kyrgyzstan (80th) and Tajikistan (96th), while recording the region’s largest year-on-year improvement of four positions.

According to De Molli, Azerbaijan ranked first in the macro-region across seven key indicators, including scientific publication growth, energy balance, foreign direct investment inflows, profit tax burden reduction, public debt-to-GDP ratio, total factor productivity dynamics and the 20-year forecast for the working-age population share.

The country ranked first globally for the growth in scientific publication volume and placed among the world’s top 10 for several other indicators, including energy balance, FDI growth, tax burden reduction, public debt and total factor productivity dynamics.

By Vafa Guliyeva