Government and power in Azerbaijan

Who leads Azerbaijan, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Unitary republic (presidential).

Who leads Azerbaijan?

• Head of state: Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev (President of the Republic of Azerbaijan)
• Head of government: Ali Hidayat oglu Asadov (Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan)
• Foreign minister: Jeyhun Aziz oglu Bayramov (Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in Azerbaijan

Government

• President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
  Presidential decrees and orders, official statements and documents of the head of state.
• Cabinet of Ministers
  Cabinet decisions and resolutions, and information on government programmes.

Parliament

• National Assembly (Milli Majlis)
  Laws adopted, plenary session information, committee work and the list of deputies.

Elections

• Central Election Commission
  Election results, candidate registration, voter statistics and commission decisions.

Courts

• Supreme Court of Azerbaijan
  Supreme Court decisions, plenum rulings and judicial statistics.
• Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan
  Constitutional Court rulings and information on constitutional review proceedings.

Public audit

• Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan
  Audit reports, opinions on the state budget and annual activity reports.

Ombudsman

• Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman)
  Annual reports on human rights and information on complaints handled by the Ombudsman.

Public contracts

• State Procurement Portal
  Public procurement announcements, tenders and contract results through the single state procurement portal.

Laws and the official gazette

• Unified Internet Database of Legal Acts (e-qanun)
  The official electronic database of Azerbaijani laws, decrees and other normative legal acts.

Government below the national level

• Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic: Supreme Assembly (Ali Majlis) directly elected; heads of local executive bodies appointed by the President of Azerbaijan on the Ali Majlis chair's recommendation
• Districts (66) and cities (11, incl. Baku) – local executive authorities: Head of executive power appointed by and accountable to the President
• Municipalities (city, intra-city and rural): Municipal council directly elected for five years; council elects its chair

How local power works in Azerbaijan

Places in Azerbaijan

• All 10 first-level divisions
• Official statistics for Azerbaijan

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Central government spending (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 808094019f50…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Tax revenue (GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08c94b750f31…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.