Azerbaijan expands geography of agricultural exports – minister

Azerbaijan has expanded the geography of its agricultural exports, the country's Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov said during a meeting on agricultural issues chaired by President Ilham Aliyev.

According to Report, the minister said that over the past five years, agricultural trade has shown steady growth dynamics.

"A key issue here is the ratio between exports and imports of agricultural raw materials and processed agricultural products. In exports, the volume of raw agricultural materials is 3–4 times higher than processed products, while in imports, processed agricultural goods almost twice dominate. This shows that increasing agricultural processing in the country is one of the main challenges we face," he noted.

He added that over the past five years, both the export product portfolio and geographical reach have expanded.

Mammadov emphasized that Azerbaijan ranks second in the world in persimmon exports.

"In 2025, Azerbaijan rose to ninth place globally in exports of peaches and nectarines for the first time. In addition, Azerbaijan is among the top twenty exporters of products such as strawberries, cherries, tomatoes, and cotton fiber. During this period, the three main categories of our exports have been fruits, cotton, and vegetables. While in 2021 these three categories accounted for 87% of total exports, in 2025 their share has declined to 75%, indicating an expansion of our product portfolio and a growing share of other exported goods," he said.