BAKU - President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan will increase its minimum wage, pensions and social benefits in 2027, turning earlier expectations of higher payments into a formal government instruction.
Aliyev made the announcement on Oct. 2 during the eighth congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.
“The instruction has already been given; next year, the minimum wage, pensions, and social benefits will be increased,” Aliyev said, according to the state news agency AZERTAC.
Aliyev said the government regularly pursues increases aimed at improving the public’s welfare. Officials have not yet announced the size of the 2027 increases or the dates on which the new rates will take effect.
Current Minimums Remain in Force
Azerbaijan’s minimum monthly wage currently stands at 400 manats, while the minimum labor pension is 320 manats. Those levels have been in effect since Jan. 1, 2025, according to Vesti Baku.
The new announcement is separate from the annual indexation of labor pensions and from earlier projections about a possible minimum-wage increase. The government must still determine the financing, calculate the revised payments and approve the new amounts through separate decisions.
Social Spending Exceeds 8 Billion Manats
Azerbaijan’s 2026 State Social Protection Fund budget allocated 8.196 billion manats for labor pensions and insurance benefits, an increase of 788 million manats from the previous year. Of that total, 7.993 billion manats was earmarked for labor pensions and 203.6 million manats for benefits financed through social insurance.
Budget projections placed the average monthly pension in 2026 at 590 manats and the average old-age pension at 629 manats. The rates for 2027 will be set as part of the next social-policy package.