Tourist arrivals in Azerbaijan fall 11% in January–May

Azerbaijan was visited by 871,700 foreign nationals and stateless persons from 186 countries in January–May 2026, marking an 11% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to the State Statistics Committee.

The statistics show most visitors came from Russia (27.2%), Türkiye (22%), Iran (8.4%) and Georgia (5%), Caliber.Az reports.

At the same time, arrivals from EU countries increased by 13.3% to 44,200, while visits from CIS countries rose by 3% to 336,500.

In contrast, arrivals from Gulf countries declined by 31.6% to 105,200.

The number of Azerbaijani citizens travelling abroad also fell by 6.3% year-on-year to 756,600.

The most popular destinations remained Türkiye (40.7%), Russia (17.3%) and Georgia (11.2%).

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov