ArmInfo.In Armenia, the service sector reached a 7.8% growth in 2021 (from a 14.7% decline in 2020), increasing revenue to 1.8 trillion drams ($3.7 billion). This is evidenced by the data of the RA Statistical Committee, according to which an upward trend was recorded in all segments, with the exception of the sector of culture, entertainment and recreation.
In particular, services in the field of culture, entertainment and recreation accelerated the y-o-y decline from 19.5% to 31.5%. Such dynamics was provoked by a decrease in revenue from the organization of gambling (casino activities, operation of slot machines, organization and conduct of lotteries, activities of video game terminals, use of Web sites for virtual games, as well as betting activities).
At the same time, an improvement in the trend of services provided was observed in the following areas: catering - from a 45% decline to a 60.9% increase, education - from a 9.1% decline to a 10.5% increase, healthcare - from 1.2% decline to 45.1% growth, real estate - from 14.6% decline to 25.9% growth, transport - from 35.2% decline to 28.3% growth, administrative and auxiliary activities - from 46% decline to 20.1% growth, professional and technical activities - from 11.9% decline to 19.9% growth.
The volume of services in the financial and insurance sectors slowed down y-o-y growth from 6.2% to 1%, and in the field of information and communications, on the contrary, accelerated growth from 6.1% to 12.2%.
The financial sector is the leader in the volume of services provided - 470.7 billion drams (25% of the total), the lion's share falls to the banks. Information and communication sector by 326.8 billion drams (17.4%), is in the second place, the main burden of which falls on the telecommunications sector. The sector of culture, entertainment and recreation ranks third by- 234.2 billion drams (12.5% of the total). The fourth place is occupied by the transport sector - 219.1 billion drams (11.7%). The top five in terms of the volume of services provided is closed by the catering and tourism sector - 182.1 billion drams (9.7%). The average settlement rate of the dram in December 2021 was 485.14 AMD/$1, and in January-December 2021 - 503.77 AMD/$1.