National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect of modern independent Azerbaijan, not only laid the foundation for the country’s long-term development but also established its social development strategy. He took significant steps to build a modern and sustainable social protection system.
President Ilham Aliyev, successfully continuing this wise and visionary policy, has led Azerbaijan on a dynamic development path, culminating in a historic victory. His strong social policy and successful social reform program have ensured sustainable social development in the country and enabled significant achievements in improving citizens' welfare.
“Azerbaijan is a social state. Our policy focuses on Azerbaijani citizens, their concerns, problems, safety, and happiness,” said President Aliyev. These words of the President of the country are clearly and practically confirmed in the social reforms that have been implemented consistently on his instructions, including in recent years, one after another, each of which plays an important role in supporting the well-being of many citizens. An example of this is the implementation of 4 social reform packages covering more than 4 million citizens in 2018-2024, based on the Decrees and Orders of the Head of State, and the allocation of 7 billion manats of additional annual funds for these reforms. During that period, we see an increase of 2,5 times in the minimum pension, 2,4 times in the average monthly pension, 5 times in benefits and pension payments, 2,7 times in the average monthly amount of targeted assistance, 2,7 times in the minimum wage, up to 2 times in the average monthly wage, 2,2 times in the median wage, 3 times in the wage fund, and 609 thousand (48 percent) in the number of labour contracts.
The new Order “On the continuation of measures to improve the social well-being of the population” signed by President Ilham Aliyev on December 23, 2024, once again shows that the social reforms carried out to ensure the well-being of citizens are successfully continuing. According to the new Order, from January 1, 2025, the minimum monthly wage in our country will increase by 16 percent from 345 manats to 400 manats, and from February 1, 2025, the minimum amount of labour pension will increase by 14,3 percent from 280 manats to 320 manats. Together with these increases, a 3,1-fold increase in the minimum monthly wage and a 3-fold increase in the minimum pension have already been achieved since the beginning of 2018.
This reform package also includes plans to increase other social payments. The Cabinet of Ministers will submit proposals on raising benefits and allowances within three months. As can be seen, the dynamics of increase in benefits and pension payments will continue next year. In areas financed from the state budget, the monthly tariff (position) salaries will be adjusted to the new increased amount of the minimum monthly wage. This will increase the salary in the first tier of the Unified Tariff Table consisting of 19 tiers in these areas (social, science, education, healthcare, culture, youth, sports, agriculture, ecology, environmental protection, housing and communal services, transport, communications, land reclamation, water management, etc.) to 400 manats, and will allow for corresponding increases in salaries in other tiers.
In early 2025, pensions will also be indexed and increased, impacting approximately 3 million individuals. An additional 1,4 billion manats annually will be allocated for these increases.
The steady growth of social spending in the state budget highlights the government's commitment to social development. From 10,3 billion manats in 2021, these expenditures will reach 16,9 billion manats in 2025—a 1,6-fold increase in just a few years. The fact that the share of social expenditures in the budget is 41 percent once again shows that social welfare is a priority direction of state policy. As an integral part of social reforms, a continuous increase in social payments for people with disabilities is also ensured. As an example, the annual funds allocated for social payments for disabilities increased by 2,1 times or 1,3 billion manats compared to 2018. While those funds amounted to 1,2 billion manats in 2018, they are currently close to 2,5 billion manats. The number of types of rehabilitation aids provided to people with disabilities from the state budget has increased by nearly 4 times in the last 4 years, from 34 to 130.
Ensuring employment of the population occupies an important place in the socio-economic policy of President Ilham Aliyev. As a result, with the creation of numerous new jobs in the country, the scope of active employment programs is also significantly expanding year by year. In 2018-2024, the State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population provided 635 thousand citizens with jobs, and 36 thousand people were involved in vocational training. The self-employment program, implemented by the instructions of the President of the country, is a program distinguished by its significant socio-economic importance and supports the access of unemployed and job-seekers to small businesses. The annual number of those involved in the self-employment program, which has been implemented since 2017, has increased approximately 15 times over the past period, exceeding 16 thousand. So far, 93 thousand people have been involved in the self-employment program and have created their small enterprises using the assets provided to them. Next year, this number will exceed 100 thousand.
Under the directive of the Head of State, recent years have seen the establishment of a modern rehabilitation system in the country, significantly expanding the spectrum of services based on the biopsychosocial model in new directions. Overall, the annual number of individuals with disabilities receiving rehabilitation services at the rehabilitation centers of the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency under the Ministry has increased more than sevenfold. In just the first 11 months of this year, these centers provided services to 113000 individuals.
Following Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, comprehensive social support programs for martyrs' families and war veterans were implemented. These include providing housing and vehicles. Since the post-war period, 6,800 homes have been allocated to these groups, bringing the total to 16,000. Additionally, 567 vehicles were distributed after the war, with the total reaching 7,700.
The DOST Concept occupies a special place among the important achievements of the successful social reform program. By the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev, since 2019, the DOST Agency, 7 DOST Centers in Baku, Absheron and Barda, as well as the “Smart DOST” service point in the Agali village of Zangilan, and in June 2024, a branch of the Karabakh Regional DOST Center in Shusha were opened. The DOST Concept, an initiative of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, has enabled the provision of 160 social services in 15 areas to the population from a single platform, a “single window”, transparently and operationally, based on the principle of citizen satisfaction and convenience. The DOST Concept has been awarded more than 60 international awards and certificates. 12 of them are “Good practice awards of Europe”. In general, in accordance with the instructions of the head of state, the successes of the social reforms carried out in our country in recent years are also highly appreciated by reputable international organizations. In 2024 alone, these achievements were recognized with more than 110 international awards.
One of the main goals of President Ilham Aliyev's successful social reform program is to build state social services on innovative approaches and modern technologies, and to establish a system of transparent and flexible, high-quality, accessible services for citizens in the social sphere that meet citizen satisfaction. As a continuation of the DOST Concept, which is an important success in this direction, large-scale digilatization of state social services has been ensured, and today more than 145 out of 160 services of the Ministry (more than 90 percent) are already provided through a digital platform. More than 30 e-reference services, as well as more than 50 proactive appointment mechanisms since the beginning of 2019, the e-social.az portal, which is the country's social register, was launched in the same year, the service for proactively opening individual accounts in e-procedure in 2020, and the “Labour and Employment” subsystem in 2022.
As can be seen, President Ilham Aliyev's special attention and care for the social sphere has ensured that important steps have been taken consistently towards social progress and strengthening the social protection system in the country, and these successes will continue in the coming period.
