ArmInfo. In Armenia, the growth of economic activity in January-November 2019 accelerated to 7.5% from 5.7% for 11 months of 2018. The growth drivers were the service sector, industrial sector and trade, against the backdrop of a modest rise in the construction sector and a decline in the energy sector. According to preliminary data of the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, in November 2019 alone there was a decline of 8.5% with ay-o-y increase of 10.1%, while a year earlier the November decline was 10.3% with a y-o-y increase of 3.6%.
The y-o-y growth of economic activity in January-November 2019 continues to be supported to a greater extent by the services sector - by 14.8%, the industrial sector - by 9.3% and trade - by 9.2%, and less towards construction sector - by 4.5% , with the decline in the energy sector by 3.4%, against the growth recorded by a year earlier in all these sectors by 18.4%, 4.1%, 9.2%, 5.5% and 2.4%, respectively. For the agricultural sector, only quarterly data are published, but a year earlier, in January-November, an acceleration of decline was noted from 3.9% to 8.1%.
The industrial production price index increased in January-November 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 by 0.4%, in November 2019 compared with November 2018 it decreased by 0.6%, and in November 2019 alone increased by 0.5%, against the same dynamics a year ago: in January-November 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 - an increase of 1.8%, in November 2018 versus November 2017 - a decline of 0.1%, and only in November 2018 - an increase of 1.6%.
On a monthly basis (in November), the construction sector and the industrial sector showed high growth - 8.9% and 6.9%, respectively, which in the case of the construction sector almost repeats last year's dynamics (growth of 9%), and indicates a trend reversal in the industrial sector from last year's 6.8% decline in the direction of growth. A much more modest increase was recorded in the power-generation - 1.7% (against a growth of 3.6% in November 2018) and in the trading sector - 1.5% (against a decline of 0.1% in November 2018). And the service sector was delayed in recession, with the pace accelerating in November 2019 to 8.4% from 7.6% in November 2018.
In y-o-y terms (November 2019 to November 2018), the decline was recorded only in the energy sector - by 9.3%, while the remaining sectors were notable for growth: industry - 13.8%, trade sector - 11.9%, services sector - 11, 6%, construction sector - 4.8%. A year earlier (November 2018 to November 2017), the decline was recorded only in the agricultural sector - by 8.3%, and the growth of other sectors was as follows: services - 17.5%, energy sector - 8.3%, trade - 5.3% industry - 1.1%, construction - 0.2%.
According to statistical data, in January-November 2019, the trading sector with the volume of 2.9 trillion. drams holds leadership in absolute terms. The industrial sector returned to the second position - 1.9 trillion drams, displacing the services sector to the third position - 1.8 trillion drams, in the fourth place, due to the lack of data from the agricultural sector, the construction sector- 344.8 billion drams. The volume of electricity generation in January-November 2019 amounted to 6,867.1 million kWh, of which 613.5 million kWh - only in November. At the same time, the foreign trade turnover of Armenia in January-November 2019 amounted to 3471.8 billion drams ($ 7231.7 million) with a y-o-y growth of 7.4%. In its structure, the volume of exports underwent y-o-y growth of 9% to 1,153 billion drams ($ 2,401.7 million), while imports - y-o-y growth of 6.6% to 2,318.8 billion drams ($ 4,830 million). In November 2019 alone, an increase in exports of 8.5% and imports of 3.1% ensured an increase in foreign trade turnover by 4.5%, and y-o-y (November 2019 to November 2018) increased exports by 25.7% and imports by 9.6% accelerated the growth of foreign trade to 14.2%. A year earlier, in January-November 2018, foreign trade turnover increased by 19.1% due to an increase in imports by 24.2% with an increase in exports by 9.8%, in November 2018 compared to November 2017, foreign trade turnover increased by 6.9% due to import growth by 12.5%, while export decline by 5%. The average settlement rate of dram in November 2019 amounted to 477.08 dr / $ 1, and in January- November 2019 - 480.65 dr / $ 1, against 486.33 dr / $ 1 - in November 2018 and 482.83 dr / $ 1 - in January-November 2018