Armenia`s trade sector slowed down in January-July 2018 due to retail stagnation

ArmInfo. In January-July, 2018, Armenia's trade sector slowed down its annual growth rate from 12.2% to 8.9%, providing a volume of 1.5 trillion. AMD ($ 3.1 billion), of which 249.5 billion Drams - only in June, with a monthly growth of 8.1%. According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, this dynamics was provoked by the stagnation of retail trade in parallel with the slowdown in wholesale growth.

In particular, wholesale trade in January-July showed a slowdown in annual growth from 20.2% to 16.6%, amounting to 714.9 billion drams ($ 1.4 billion). In July alone, wholesale trade increased by 7.8% to 120.9 billion drams.

Retail trade during the reporting period also slowed the growth rate from 5.7% to 0.7%, amounting to 723.1 billion drams ($ 1.5 billion).  In July alone, retail sales increased by 8.4% to 115.9 billion drams.  In the structure of retail trade, shops (including supermarkets) provide the largest turnover - 568.2 billion drams or 78.6% (with annual growth of 1.5%), other retail facilities - 93.4 billion drams or 12.9% (from the annual decline by 1%), followed by the following by the consumer market - 36.8 billion or 5.1% (with an annual decline of 0.6%), stalls and kiosks - 15.8 billion or 2.2% (with an annual decline by 3.9%) and agricultural markets - 8.9 billion or 1.2% (with an annual decline of 15.1%).

The volume of purchase / sale of cars in January-July 2018, in contrast, accelerated the growth rate to 28.3% from 18% in the same period a year earlier, to 69.3 billion drams ($ 143.7 million). Only in July the volume of automobile trade increased by 9.3% to 12.7 billion drams.

In the structure of Armenia's total trade turnover, the lion's share (48%) falls on retail trade, 47.4% - on wholesale, and 4.6% - on car buying / sale.

The average calculated exchange rate of the dram was 481.43 dr / $ 1 in July 2018, and 481.95 dr / $ 1 in January-July, compared to 479.04 dr / $ 1 in July 2017 and 483.78 dr / $ 1 in January July, 2017.