As Azerbaijan welcomes the Asian Development Bank’s board of governors as part of the group's 48th annual meeting in May, the country's economy is at its strongest since the country gained independence in 1991, and the future is looking hopeful. The vast majority of Azerbaijan's economic growth happened after its first troubled decade of independence. In 1991, its economy collapsed and it took 14 years for gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to recover to more than $1200 – its level under Soviet rule.
Oil has been the dominating force behind the country’s resurgence. The oil and gas industry contributed $30.29bn to the economy in 2013 – which amounted to 40.87% of GDP. Although this number is still high, chart one shows that 2013 was the second consecutive year when the oil and gas industry contributed less to the economy than all other sectors combined, and the nominal GDP contribution of the sector has also decreased.
