Central Asian tourist arrivals to Azerbaijan rise by over 12%

In January–August 2026, a total of 159,221 tourists from Central Asian countries visited Azerbaijan, marking a 12.3% increase compared to 141,795 visitors in the corresponding period of 2025, Report informs, citing the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan.

The number of visitors from Kazakhstan totaled 72,773, up 5% year-on-year, while arrivals from Uzbekistan rose by 33.2% to 50,253. Tourist arrivals from Turkmenistan declined by 4.8% to 20,389, while arrivals from Kyrgyzstan increased by 12.1% to 7,948 and those from Tajikistan grew by 26.1% to 7,858.

In August 2026 alone, Kazakhstan ranked seventh among the top 10 source countries of foreign visitors to Azerbaijan with 10,696 arrivals, while Uzbekistan placed ninth with 7,865 visitors.

A total of 1.585 million foreign visitors traveled to Azerbaijan in the first eight months of 2026, which is 8% lower than the 1.72 million recorded in the same period of 2025.

Meanwhile, in 2025, tourist arrivals to Azerbaijan from Central Asian countries increased by 21.72% year-on-year to 219,747. The figure included 103,613 visitors from Kazakhstan, 62,308 from Uzbekistan, 32,414 from Turkmenistan, 11,651 from Kyrgyzstan, and 9,761 from Tajikistan.

Overall, between 2017 and 2025, Azerbaijan welcomed 948,000 visitors from Central Asian countries, including 437,036 from Kazakhstan, 246,613 from Uzbekistan, 212,645 from Turkmenistan, 43,657 from Kyrgyzstan, and 36,002 from Tajikistan.