Azerbaijan’s balance of payments had a surplus of $1.878 billion in the first half of 2021 in comparison with a surplus of $598.2 million in January-June 2020, the Central Bank said.

The surplus in the oil and gas sector in the first half of 2021 amounted to $4.6 billion, 40.7 percent up from the same period last year, due to an increase in world oil and gas prices. In the non-oil sector was recorded a deficit of $2.7 billion, 1.8 percent up from January-June 2020.

The average oil price in January-June 2021 was $57.7 per barrel against $41.8 a year earlier.

In 2020, the current account deficit amounted to $227.6 million in 2020 due to a drop in global oil prices.