“There are slightly more than 1.3 million pensioners in Azerbaijan. Of these, more than 200,000 receive a minimum pension. The average pension of this part of pensioners is only 150 manat, it is not even 100 dollars at the current rate. This is a very low figure in the world”,
says economist Natiq Jafarli.
“The thing is that before the fall of the manat, the minimum pension, equal to 150 manat, was almost 200 dollars. After the devaluation of the manat, the position of Azerbaijan, even among the post-Soviet countries, has significantly worsened in this area”, Jafarli said.
Jafarli added that “according to official data, pensioners in Azerbaijan spend more than 80% of their pensions on food. And in reality the situation is that pensions are sometimes not even enough for food, pensioners have to make ends meet in other ways. Although in developed countries, this figure should not exceed 12%”.
Jafarli noted that the recent two devaluations have made life for pensioners severely difficult.
“It provoked an increase in the prices of food, medicine, utilities. In Azerbaijan, on average, the pension is equal to 200 manat. Of the total number of pensioners, 900,000 receive about 400 manat, and no more than 30 thousand people – civil servants – receive a good pension”, the expert said.
It should be noted that the pension system in Azerbaijan consists of the main component, which is paid by the state in a fixed amount, regardless of salary or contribution history, and the insurance component, which is calculated from deductions in the working age at a rate of 25 percent of wages (22 percent is paid by the employer, 3 percent by the employee himself).
As of January 1, 2017, the number of pensioners in Azerbaijan was 1,315,227.
The average monthly size of pensions in Azerbaijan is 192 manat.
