Fact Sheet: Azerbaijan

Son preference is a significant issue in Azerbaijan, sustained by harmful gender and social norms. This is reflected, for example, in data on the fertility choices of men and women in the 2018 International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) (UNFPA Azerbaijan and others, 2018). Both male and female survey respondents said they preferred to have a larger number of boys than girls (Figure 1). Men showed a stronger preference than women for a larger number of boys: 41.5 per cent of men showed a preference for a greater number of sons over daughters, compared to just 18.3 per cent of women who shared this preference. By contrast, 17.5 per cent of women preferred to have more daughters than sons, a preference shared by only 6.0 per cent of men. Despite this preference for sons, more than half of Azerbaijanis aspired to have a gender-balanced family with an equal number of sons and daughters (UNFPA Azerbaijan and others, 2018).