Azerbaijan's internet service revenue rises 21.5% in nine months while mobile grows 3.3%

Mobile communication services in Azerbaijan generated AZN 987.1 million in January to September 2026, 3.3 per cent more than a year earlier, while internet services generated AZN 524.3 million, up 21.5 per cent, according to State Statistics Committee data reported by Report.az on 13 October. The Committee's release on information and communication services for the period was published the same day.

Total information and communication services came to AZN 3.2571 billion, up 11.1 per cent in real terms, the Report.az account says. Software development and related consulting accounted for AZN 558.8 million, up 32.2 per cent, and information services for AZN 384.7 million, up 8.6 per cent. Other information and communication services were AZN 802.2 million, up 4.3 per cent. The report does not give a separate figure for fixed-line services.

Mobile and internet compared

The five segments add up to the AZN 3.2571 billion total. On those figures mobile accounts for about 30 per cent of the total, and internet services for 16.1 per cent, the share given in the report. Internet revenue is growing about six and a half times as fast as mobile revenue.

The report does not say whether the segment growth rates are nominal or real; only the headline total is described as real. If both segment rates refer to current prices, the implied base for the first nine months of 2025 is about AZN 956 million for mobile and about AZN 432 million for internet, which would mean internet services added roughly AZN 93 million against about AZN 32 million for mobile. This is a calculation from the published rates, not a figure reported by the Committee, and it depends on the rates being nominal.

None of the reports reviewed gives mobile subscriber numbers, data traffic, tariffs or revenue by operator. The data therefore cannot show whether slower growth in mobile revenue reflects fewer subscribers, lower prices or a shift of usage towards data and messaging services, and the Committee's release would need to be read for any further detail.

Output and investment

Further Committee data reported on 16 October put output of the ICT sector at AZN 2.057 billion for the nine months, up 11.1 per cent on the year, according to Report.az. September alone was AZN 282.3 million, up 30.6 per cent. The sector accounted for 2 per cent of gross domestic product, which rose 1.5 per cent to AZN 102.048 billion. The report does not say how the sector output figure relates to the AZN 3.2571 billion of services above, and it does not define either measure.

Investment in the ICT sector was AZN 376.5 million in the nine months, up 57.3 per cent, equal to 2.6 per cent of the economy's total capital investment, Report.az reported. The nine-month figure already exceeds the AZN 373.6 million recorded for the whole of 2025, which Report.az said was 46.7 per cent lower than in 2024. No breakdown between telecom networks, software and other activities was given, so the data cannot show how much went into mobile or fixed networks.

Pay and the regulatory framework

Average monthly nominal pay in the information and communication sector was AZN 2,130.2 in January to August, up 12.7 per cent, according to Report.az. Public-sector pay averaged AZN 1,908.6, up 18.6 per cent, and private-sector pay AZN 2,260.9, up 8.5 per cent. The sector had 34,100 hired employees as of 1 September, down 0.3 per cent on a year earlier.

On 15 October Report.az said President Ilham Aliyev had signed a decree establishing a Digital Connectivity information system. The report says the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport owns the system and the Information and Communication Technologies Agency, which reports to the ministry, operates it. Its stated purpose is to make regulation and oversight of information and communication technologies, including telecommunications and postal services, more efficient and transparent. No deadlines or figures were given.