ArmInfo.The volume of industrial production in Armenia in January-August 2018 to the same period a year ago grew by 4.4% (against 12.4% growth a year earlier), reaching 1.1 trillion. drams ($ 2.2 billion). According to the RA Statistics Committee, a slowdown in the uptrend has led to a decline in the mining sector and a slowdown in the growth rate of the manufacturing industry. Only in August 2018, the industrial sector decreased by 2.6% (against the 0.9% decline in August 2017), reaching 144.3 billion drams ($ 299.2 million).
In January-August 2018 to the same period of 2017, the mining industry recorded a decline of 10.4% (against 10.6% growth a year earlier) - to 206.4 billion drams. But only in August did the mining sector ensured a growth of 5.3% - to 23.9 billion drams. The volume of the manufacturing industry increased by 9.3% per annum in January-August 2018 (against a growth of 16.4% a year earlier) - to 704.5 billion drams, of which 96.8 billion drams fell in August, with a monthly decline of 3.4 %.
Moreover, in the manufacturing industry, the decline in volumes in January-August 2018 was recorded only in the production of electrical equipment and base metals - a decline of 17.7% and 1.4%, respectively. A significant growth is recorded in the production of machinery and equipment (3 times), furniture (by 63.8%), other non-metallic mineral products (by 43.3%), chemical production (by 42.4%), clothing (by 40, 8%), computers, electronic and optical equipment (by 40.1%). In the manufacturing industry in terms of production volumes, food products are leading (205.8 billion drams), basic metals (117.2 billion), cigarettes (100.3 billion), beverages (93.1 billion).
According to statistical data, the supply of electricity, gas, steam and conditioned air in general increased in January-August 2018 to the same period of 2017 by 5.2% (against 1.9% growth a year earlier) - to 170.8 billion drams. Whereas in August, a decline of 8% was recorded - to 21.1 billion drams. Moreover, the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in January-August increased by 7.2% per annum (with a decline of 8.1% in August), while the production of gas, the distribution of gaseous fuel through gas supply systems decreased by 3.9% (with a 7.4% decline in August).
Revenues from water supply, cleaning and processing of wastes and receiving secondary raw materials decreased in January-August by 0.7% per annum (against 9% growth a year earlier) - to 17.1 billion drams, with growth in August by 2.2% from providing 2.4 billion drams. Moreover, the growth in this segment mainly determined the collection, treatment and distribution of water (annual growth by 2.4%, for the month - by 2.7%).
Recall that the volume of industrial production in Armenia in 2017 compared to 2016 increased by 12.6% (against a growth of 6.7% a year earlier), reaching 1.660 trillion. drams ($ 3.4 billion). The improvement in the dynamics was reflected in the acceleration of the growth rate of the mining sector to 13.9% (from 8.3% a year earlier) and the manufacturing industry to 15.7% (from 7.7% a year earlier). The average settlement rate of the dram against the US dollar in August 2018 was 482.43 dr./$ 1, and in January-August - 482.01 dr./$ 1, against 478.61 dr./$ 1 in August 2017 and 483.13 dr ./$ 1 in January- August 2017