On June 19, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that Azerbaijan attracted $27.503 billion in foreign direct investment between 2000 and 2024, while the country invested $29.876 billion abroad during the same period.
The report indicated that Azerbaijan received $27.919 billion in foreign direct investment from 2000 to 2023, with $14.253 billion of that total recorded between 2000 and 2010. In 2000 alone, the country attracted $1.791 billion. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani direct investment abroad reached $28.644 billion from 2000 to 2023 and totaled $5.79 billion during 2000–2010. In 2000, this figure stood at $1 million. The highest annual volume of foreign direct investment into the Azerbaijani economy over the past six years occurred in 2019, reaching $1.504 billion. In the same year, Azerbaijan’s outbound direct investment peaked at $2.432 billion.
The UNCTAD report also outlined trends in greenfield project investments in Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) between 2020 and 2024, noting that the energy, digital economy, and transport sectors attracted the largest share of capital. The energy and gas supply sector remained dominant, drawing approximately $50 billion—more than double the amount from the previous period and accounting for nearly 30 percent of all greenfield project activity in LLDCs. Investment flows were heavily concentrated in a few countries, with Uzbekistan leading at $18 billion for over 40 projects, followed by Kazakhstan with $5 billion, while Zimbabwe and Bhutan each secured more than $3 billion. Azerbaijan, along with Nepal and North Macedonia, ranked among the notable recipients, each receiving more than $1.5 billion in greenfield project value.
In the digital economy sector, UNCTAD recorded substantial increases in greenfield activity, particularly in countries like Tajikistan and Paraguay, each attracting over $1.1 billion, followed by Uzbekistan with approximately $900 million. The report attributed this surge to government-led digitalization strategies, regulatory reforms, and growing domestic demand for digital services, with Uzbekistan and Ethiopia highlighted as cases of rising investor interest after reforms in their telecommunications sectors. Major investing countries in this area included the Russian Federation and the United States, each contributing around $2 billion, with other significant investors listed as the Netherlands, Mauritius, the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland.
Transport sector investments in LLDCs also rose, with Kazakhstan receiving more than $8 billion for 19 projects and Uganda following with nearly $4 billion across 9 projects. Other key recipients included Uzbekistan with over $1 billion and countries like Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Rwanda. Among the most prominent investors in transport projects were Qatar and France, which invested approximately $6 billion and $4 billion, respectively.