Finance Minister unveils 2026 budget with record social and healthcare spending

The state budget for 2026 will allocate 2 billion manat to healthcare, marking an 11 percent increase compared with the 2024 performance indicator. Healthcare spending will account for 4.9 percent of total state budget expenditures.

Azernews reports that Finance Minister Sahil Babayev made this statement during today’s plenary session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament of Azerbaijan), held to discuss the draft law 'On the State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026.

According to the minister, the consolidated budget will allocate 3.7 billion manat to healthcare next year — an increase of 227 million manat, or 6.4 percent, compared with 2025.

He also noted that 5.2 billion manat is planned for education and science — key national priorities under the 2030 agenda. This represents a rise of 658 million manat, or 14.3 percent, compared with 2024. By 2026, expenditures in this sector will have grown by 36 percent compared with the medium-term baseline year of 2022.

The 2026 state budget will also allocate 1.2 billion manat to agriculture and food security. Total allocations to agriculture will reach 15 percent of the projected agrarian GDP.

Of these agricultural funds:

42 percent (513 million manat) will support food security initiatives, including subsidies, agricultural machinery and equipment, and irrigation system discounts.
40 percent (490 million manat) will go toward improving land reclamation.
18 percent (219 million manat) will be directed to veterinary and other agricultural programs.

In 2026, 41 percent of state budget expenditures — or 17.1 billion manat — will be devoted to social spending. This accounts for 68 percent of current expenditures and reflects an increase of 2.5 billion manat, or 17 percent, compared with 2024. Social spending will therefore remain one of the country’s key priorities.

Compared with 2022, social expenditures in 2026 will be 5.6 billion manat, or 48 percent, higher.

Next year’s state budget earmarks 4.9 billion manat for strengthening social protection — 121 million manat more than in 2025 and 722 million manat more than in 2024. In the past four years, these expenditures have risen by 41 percent.

A total of 2.8 billion manat will be allocated to social benefits, pensions, and other social payments — an increase of 151 million manat compared with the current year.

Additionally, 285 million manat will be directed toward the social protection of former internally displaced persons, identified as another major policy priority.