Azerbaijan–Russia trade falls nearly 43% as UK surges in early 2026

Azerbaijan’s trade with Russia dropped sharply in the first four months of 2026, falling by 42.9% year-on-year, according to State Customs Committee data cited by Caliber.Az.

The decline placed Russia’s trade turnover at $1.04 billion for January–April 2026, significantly below previous levels and marking one of the steepest contractions among Azerbaijan’s major trading partners.

At the same time, overall trade patterns showed notable shifts, with the United Kingdom emerging as Azerbaijan’s second-largest trading partner after Italy, recording a 7.4-fold increase to $3.56 billion.

Italy remained Azerbaijan’s top partner with $3.86 billion in trade, though its turnover also declined by 9.4% compared with the same period in 2025.

Türkiye ranked third with $1.85 billion in trade, down 5.2%, while China posted moderate growth of 6.1% to $1.51 billion.

Other key partners included Georgia, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, and the United States, with mixed performance across the board.

Overall, Azerbaijan’s foreign trade turnover increased by 2.9% year-on-year to $17.4 billion in January–April 2026.

By Sabina Mammadli