Azerbaijan.US
Living costs in Barcelona are increasingly drawing attention in Azerbaijan – and not because Spain is becoming cheaper, but because Baku is becoming harder to explain.
Economist Natig Jafarli says that despite Spain’s minimum wage being six to seven times higher than Azerbaijan’s, a number of everyday goods there are cheaper or priced at similar levels to those in Baku.
According to Jafarli, this is especially visible in food prices. Beef, for example, often costs less in Spain than in Azerbaijan, even though local purchasing power in Spain is significantly stronger.
He also points to structural issues on the supply side. Over the past five years, Azerbaijan’s cattle population has declined by nearly 300,000 head, yet no public explanation or accountability has followed from responsible officials. The impact of this decline on domestic prices, he argues, has largely gone unaddressed.
As a practical comparison, Jafarli cites the price of coffee. In Barcelona, he recently bought 500 grams of ground coffee for €5.4 – roughly 11 manats. In Baku, a 250-gram package of comparable coffee typically sells for 18 to 25 manats.
The economist stresses that the issue goes beyond individual products. What is becoming increasingly visible, he says, is a broader imbalance between household incomes, market structure, and pricing – one that continues to deepen without clear public explanations.
