By Elmir Aghasoy, Tahmina Aslanova, and Hyeyoung Kim

Edited by SNU ARIC

1) Location

2) Population 

3) GDP 

SDG 1 : No Poverty 

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

• Azerbaijan has no serious poverty problem. It is above the average of regional and peer countries in a way to compete with developed nations.

  • The National Poverty Line has been increasing almost by half since 2015, currently standing at 240 AZN

  • However, cost of labor and real income of population fall short compared to the developed countries due to the economic crisis of 2015 and devaluation of manat.

  • By international indicators, Azerbaijan and its peer countries, except Georgia, is performing well by 0% poverty headcount ratio.

  • By comparing national poverty indicators, Azerbaijan is doing better than the peer countries, including Germany.

SDG 2 : Zero Hunger

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

• The country has proved itself viable in terms of equity distribution and terminating undernourishment across all ages.

  • Except Georgia, there is no undernourishment issue in the peer countries as well as Azerbaijan.

  • However, Azerbaijan faces serious malnourishment challenges for healthy life style.

  • Among the compared countries, Azerbaijan has the quickest increase in death attributed to obesity

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

• Overall, healthcare level is not satisfactory in Azerbaijan and there is a big difference between Azerbaijan's results and developed countries. However, Azerbaijan's healthcare results are more or less similar to the post-Soviet countries while demonstrating better statistics than the most in certain fields.

  • Maternal Mortality Ratio in Azerbaijan started to increase since 1990s and the curve was flattened since 2006.

  • Despite slow decrease in Maternal Mortality Ratio, Azerbaijan is still falling behind the peer countries while briefly taking over Georgia in 2016.

  • Infant mortality rate is also among the highest in Azerbaijan, but the success in bringing infant mortality rate down is greater than the maternal mortality ratio.

SDG 4: Quality Education 

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong education for all

• Literacy level is 100% in Azerbaijan and country had been known as the scientific center of the USSR where the children of the political elite would be educated Maths in Baku.

  • Tertiary School Enrollment is the highest in Azerbaijan among the compared countries since 2016 when Azerbaijan overtook Georgia.

  • Azerbaijan has 90%-100% trained teachers at different levels of education.

SDG 5: Gender Equality 

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

• Azerbaijan granted voting right to women in 1918 preceding most of the nations. However, there is pay gap and lack of social representation for women.

  • Only 17% of the seats in the National Parliament are held by women in Azerbaijan. In the elections of 2020, the number was increased to 21%, but it is still not satisfactory. However, this numebr secured Azerbaijan's place above the compared countries, except Germany.

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation 

Ensure availabilty and sustainable management of water and sanitation

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

• Azerbaijan heavily relies on fossil fuels as its energy sources, especially on gas.

  • Although country has hydroelectric plants and wind power, they supply only approx. 20% of entire energy needs.

  • Azerbaijan performs best for access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking overtaken only by Germany.

  • Although, Azerbaijan was performing the same with Germany in Share of Renewable Energy in 2010, its indicators have been in steady decline, thus becoming the worst performer in the field.

SDG 8: Decent Jobs and Economic Growth 

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Build resilient in infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Azerbaijan has invested little resources in terms of expenditure and researchers compared to Germany.

• Azerbaijan held 94th rank among 144 nations in its investments in R&D according to the Global Competiteveness Index 2019

• Azerbaijan has more researcher than Georgia or Ukraine, while spend less on R&D as % of GDP than them.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Labor share of GDP provides information about the relative share of output which is paid as compensation to employees (wages and social protection transfers) as compared with the share paid to capital in the production.

• Azerbaijan shows progress, rising closely to Germany, wheares Ukraine's labor share has decreased.

Azerbaijan's remittance costs are lower than 3% which is the target. 

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities 

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable

Transport emissions are accountable for 80% of air pollution. However, country is making a steady progress towards reducing the air pollution and gradual decrease is observed in statistics. Here are some measures taken by Azerbaijan in this sense:

• Replacement of medium-sized buses with large ones in public transport

• Implementation of intellectual transport management system

• Gradual implementation of Euro emission standards for vehicles

• Passed the primary law on air quality for ambient air protection N 109-IIQ/27.03.2001.

• Signatory on various international conventions, including Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, Convention on Climate Change, Montreal Protocol

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production 

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

SDG 13: Climate Action 

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

SDG 14: Life Below Water

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development

SDG 15: Life on Land 

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

All the compared countries indicate a continous stable forest areas, meaning a noteworthy protection of forest areas while Azerbaijan is slightly increasing its forest areas.

• All the countries perform maintained Red Index, led by Germany.

SDG 16: Peace and Justice-Strong Institutions 

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive instructions at all levels

Azerbaijan's budget spending is unstable and it often surpasses the originally approved budget expenditures reaching the peak expenditure indicator in 2011.

• Homicide level is lower than Georgia and Ukraine, but not Germany. Hence, Azerbaijan is the safest post-Soviet country and very close to German level.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Azerbaijan has a high level of internet users peaking up to the 86% in 2019 and reaching 91% in 2021, which is equal or even higher than the developed country standards.

• Dept services of Azerbaijan has slighly increased since the economic crisis of 2015, but still falls back than Ukraine very close to Georgia.

• Except Germany, Azerbaijan has the notable lowest personal remittance rate among the compared countries.

References

1. World Bank: https://datatopics.worldbank.org/sdgs/

2. SDG Tracker: https://sdg-tracker.org/

3. The Sustainable Development Report: https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/explorer/poverty-headcount-ratio-at-1-90-day/chart

4. UNECE: https://w3.unece.org/SDG/en/Home

5. State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan(for SDGs): http://sdg.azstat.org:8484/en/home