Poverty down to 16% in Azerbaijan

Poverty kept dropping in Azerbaijan to make up 16% as of late 2007, the State Statistics Committee chairman told a press conference on the outcomes of the year on Wednesday.

Arif Valiyev recalled that the figure was 20.8% in 2006, saying the rapid reduction of the poverty level was driven by the rising income of the population and wages of citizens. Another key reason for the improvement is the opening of a great number of jobs in the country.

Valiyev pledged that the process will be continued to further bring the poverty level down in 2008.

As for the unemployment rate, the committee chairman said 280,000 people in the over eight-million nation held no jobs. However, only about 50,000 of them have been granted the official status of the unemployed.

“Some of these persons are looking for jobs closer to their homes, while others plan to continue education,” he said, adding that such persons could not be considered as unemployed.*