ArmInfo. In the Q1 of 2019, the Armenian trade sector slowed y-o-y growth to 10.1% from 12.9% in the same period of 2018, making 651.7 billion drams ($ 1.3 billion). The dynamics was due to a slowdown in the growth of wholesale trade and a reversal in the dynamics of car trade from a rise to a decline, in parallel with which the upward trend of retail trade accelerated. According to the RA Statistics Committee, in March 2019 alone, trade turnover in Armenia increased by 6.7% to 239.6 billion drams ($ 491.6 million).
Wholesale trade during the reporting period increased volumes by 14.9% per annum - to 317 billion drams ($ 650.6 million), against a growth of 24.6% in the first quarter of 2018. In March 2019 alone, the wholesale trade turnover in Armenia increased by 2.6% to 116.2 billion drams.
Retail sales increased revenues by 7.8% per annum to 314.7 billion drams ($ 646 million), against 3.7% growth in the Q1 of 2018. In March alone, retail sales revenue grew by 11.2% to 116.7 billion drams. In the structure of retail trade, the largest turnover is provided by stores (including supermarkets) - 247.1 billion drams or 78.5% (with y-o-y growth of 9.1%), other shopping facilities - 43.1 billion drams or 13.7% (with y-o-y growth of 10.7%), followed by consumer goods markets with a margin of 14.4 billion or 4.6% (with y-o-y decline of 8.9%), stalls and kiosks - 7.3 billion or 2.3 % (with an annual growth of 10.2%) and agricultural markets - 2.8 billion or 0.9% (with an annual decline of 31%). The volume of purchase / sale of cars in the Q1 of 2019 decreased by 16.8% per annum - to 19.9 billion drams ($ 40.9 million), against a growth of 13.9% a year earlier. In monthly terms, revenue from the sale / purchase of cars increased by 3.6% - to 6.6 billion drams.
In the structure of the total trade turnover of Armenia, the lion's share (48.6%) falls on the wholesale trade, 48.3% - on retail, and 3.1% - on the purchase / sale of cars.
The average settlement rate of the dram to the US dollar in March of 2019 was 487.48 AMD./$ 1, and in January-March - 487.23 AMD/$ 1, against 480.41 AMD / $ 1 - in March of 2018 and 481.9 AMD/$ 1 - in January-March of 2018