Financial Tribune - As many as 4.9 million Azerbaijanis travelled overseas in 2018, of whom 33.6% headed for Iran, the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan Republic announced.

The committee added that 29.2% of Azerbaijanis travelled to Georgia, 18.9% to Russia, 12.3% to Turkey, 1.4% to Ukraine, 0.9% to the UAE and 3.7% to other countries, IRNA reported.

Depreciation of Iran’s local currency against the US dollar and the consequent rise in the purchasing power of other currencies, including Azeri currency Manat against the rial last year, is believed to be the main reason behind the growth in visits to Iran.

In the meantime, 2.84 million foreigners visited Azerbaijan in 2018, about 8.5% of whom were Iranians.

Azerbaijanis’ visits to Iran increased by 71.8% in 2018 to make the neighboring country Iran’s second largest source of tourists after Iraq. However, the number of Iranian tourists visiting Azerbaijan declined by 33.7% in 2018.