In 2027, Azerbaijan plans to allocate 5.099 billion manats from the state budget to education. The amount will equal 3.6% of GDP and 12% of budget expenditure.
This is stipulated in the draft law “On the State Budget for 2027,” Operative Information Center-OMM reports.
Compared with 2023, education’s share of budget expenditure has increased by 0.7 percentage points, or 974.2 million manats (23.6%) in absolute terms, according to the document.
Of the projected funding for education, 2 billion 185.4 million manats, or 42.9%, is earmarked for general education; 853.5 million manats, or 16.7%, for higher education and the financing of higher education places funded through state orders; 434.8 million manats, or 8.5%, for preschool education; 102.1 million manats, or 2%, for secondary specialized education; 115.4 million manats, or 2.3%, for vocational education; 96.9 million manats, or 1.9%, for extracurricular education institutions, including sports schools; 25.6 million manats, or 0.5%, for continuing education and applied research; and 1 billion 285.3 million manats, or 25.2%, for other institutions and measures in the education sector.
The draft says the number of students enrolled in training funded through state orders and the state budget is expected to rise by about 4,970 to 148,950 in 2026. The number of scholarship recipients is forecast to increase by about 6,190 to 118,750.
Taking these increases into account, the 2027 state budget draft provides for 613 million manats to finance higher education places funded through state orders and other measures in the education sector.
Of this amount, 422 million manats will go toward education expenses, up 10 million manats, or 2.4%, from the current year; 184 million manats will cover scholarships, an increase of 7 million manats, or 4%; and 7 million manats will be allocated to other measures in the education sector. The projected year-on-year increase reflects the rising numbers of students and scholarship recipients.
