In Jan-Apr 2016 economic activity in Armenia experienced 6% year-over-year rise due to high growth rates in industry and services

ArmInfo.In Jan-Apr 2016 the economic activity in Armenia grew by 6% versus Jan-Apr 2015 amid 21.7% rise in exports and 18.4% rise in imports. In April 2016 versus April 2015, the economic activity grew by 6.8% (by 4% versus March 2016). By the preliminary data of the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in Jan-Apr 2016 versus Jan-Apr 2015, industry grew by 10%, services - by 9.3%, agriculture - by 4.1%, electricity output - by 3.5%. Meanwhile, trade declined by 0.8%, and construction - by 7.4%. In Jan-Apr 2016 versus Jan-Apr 2015, the industrial price index dropped by 3.4%. It decreased by 1.8% in April 2016 versus April 2015, and by 0.5% versus March 2016. In April 2016 alone, the gross output of the agrarian sector rose by 55.7% (versus 46.6% rise in April 2015). Industry and power engineering grew by 4.7% and 5.6%, respectively (versus 0.4% and 7.5% respective growth a year before). 

Construction, trade and services declined by 9.3%, 2.2% and 2.6%, respectively (versus 3.5% growth, 4% drop and 2% drop, respectively, a year before). In April 2016 versus April 2015, industry grew by 13.2%, services - by 7.6%, agriculture - by 5.4%, trade - by 0.1%, while construction and power engineering declined by 16.5% and 0.8%, respectively. In Jan-Apr 2016, trade amounted to 600.2 bln AMD ($1.2 bln), industry - 421 bln AMD ($864.8 mln), services - 368.2 bln AMD ($756.3 mln), agriculture - 117.7 bln AMD ($241.8 mln), construction - 61.9 bln AMD ($127.1 mln). The electricity output totaled 2566.9 mln kWh, including 643.1 mln kWh in April alone. In the meantime, in Jan-Apr 2016 the foreign trade turnover of Armenia totaled 811.7 bln AMD ($1669.7 mln), with a 19.4% growth versus Jan-Apr 2015. Exports increased by 21.7% to 249.5 bln AMD ($512.6 mln), and imports rose by 18.4% to 562.92 bln AMD ($1156.7 mln). In April 2016 the foreign trade turnover rose by 28%, with imports rising by 45.7% and exports dropping by 8.7%. As compared to April 2015, the foreign trade turnover grew by 60.2%, with imports rising by 83.8% and exports growing by 12.1%. In April 2016 the average AMD/USD exchange rate was 481.27 AMD/$1, and in Jan-Apr 2016 - 486.82 AMD/$1 versus 474.07 AMD/$1 in April 2015 and 476.46 AMD/$1 in Jan-Apr 2015.