The impact of changes in macroeconomic conditions on the agricultural sector of Tajikistan

Since 2000, Tajikistan has experienced prominent economic growth. The average rates of economic growth for the period of 2000-2012 exceed 7 percent (AGENCY ON STATISTICS OF TAJIKISTAN [AS], TAJIKISTAN IN FIGURES, 2013). The main drivers of recent growth were labour migration and remittances on the one hand and the Agricultural Sector on the other hand. The number of labour migrants in 2013 constitutes 1.2 million (FEDERAL MIGRATION SERVICES OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 2014). In 2013, remittances were approximately equivalent to 4.2 billion USD (RUSSIAN CENTRAL BANK, 2014) thus being twice as high as the state budget and equivalent to nearly 50 percent of GDP. Remittances are the second most important source of the population’s income after wages and constitute 35 percent of the population’s income (AS, INCOME AND EXPENDITURE OF POPULATION IN TAJIKISTAN, 2013).