DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT OF AZERBAIJAN’S SERVICE-SECTOR TRANSFORMATION IN THE PLATFORM ECONOMY: EVIDENCE FROM THE NEW GENERATION ECONOMY INDEX

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This article assesses Azerbaijan’s service-sector transformation in the platform economy by combining official statistics with the New Generation Economy Index (NGEI). The study integrates 
descriptive statistical analysis, structural comparison and a relative indicator derived from NGEI components normalized on the same 0–100 scale. The empirical base covers 2025 service and trade statistics, digital-payment and POS-terminal data, and NGEI 2025 results. In 2025, retail trade turnover reached AZN 67.6 billion, paid services AZN 14.96 billion, cashless card payments AZN 99.1 billion, and e-commerce card transactions AZN 86.4 billion. However, electronic retail trade represented only 0.42% of total retail turnover, while Baku accounted for 62.3% of POS terminals. Azerbaijan’s NGEI scores are 82.64 for skills and technological readiness, 63.88 for infrastructure, and 31.12 for the platform and sharing economy. To measure this structural mismatch, the article proposes a Platform Conversion Ratio (PCR). Under the baseline arithmetic-mean specification, PCR equals 0.425; geometric- and harmonic-mean denominators yield 0.428 and 0.432. The ratio is not interpreted as a causal effect, efficiency coefficient or official NGEI sub-index; it is a diagnostic measure of the relative intensity of platform outcomes compared with selected readiness conditions. The scientific contribution lies in linking NGEI readiness and outcome components to official 
service-sector indicators and providing a reproducible measure of the readiness–outcome gap. The findings highlight regional digital infrastructure, SME platform integration, data-driven service models and improved statistical and institutional frameworks for platform work as priority areas.