ArmInfo. In Armenia, the growth of economic activity in January- December 2019 accelerated to 7.8% per annum, compared to a slowdown in 2018 to 5.8% from 7.7% in 2017.
The drivers were the service sector, the industrial sector and the commercial sector, with a modest growth in the construction sector and a decline in the agricultural sector and the energy complex. According to the final data of the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, only in December 2019 there was a growth of 24.9% with an annual growth of 10.7%, while a year earlier the December growth was a little more modest - 24.3%, and annual growth was lower - 6.4%.
The growth of economic activity in January-December 2019 continues to be mainly supported by the service sector - by 15% (with a slowdown in growth), as well as by the industrial sector - by 9% (with a faster pace) and the trade sector - by 8.9% (almost unchanged) ), amid continuing modest growth in the construction industry - by 4.6%. At the same time, the annual dynamics of the energy complex unfolded from an increase of 1.9% decline, and the agricultural sector, lingering in the decline, slowed down to 4.2%. A year earlier, in January-December 2018, the service sector and the retail sector showed the highest growth - 18.8%, 8.7%, respectively, with a relatively modest growth in the industrial sector, construction sector and energy sector - by 4.3%, 4.5% and 0.2%, respectively, and the decline in the agricultural sector by 7.6%.
The industrial production price index increased in January-December 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 by 0.5%, in December 2019 compared to December 2018 - by 1.4%, and only in December 2019 - by 2.6%, against a corresponding increase of 1.6%, a decline of 1.2% and a growth of 0.5% in the same periods of 2018.
In a monthly breakdown (for December 2019), without data on the agricultural sector, all other sectors showed growth: construction sector - 85%, trade - 27.7%, energy sector - 24.7%, services - 21%, industrial sector - 14, 7% A year earlier, in December 2018, growth was observed in the areas of: construction - 84.7%, trade - 34.1%, agriculture - 22.1%, services - 15.7%, industry - 12.5%, and the energy complex was in decline by 0.7%.
In annual terms (December 2019 to December 2018), without data on the agricultural sector, growth was observed in other areas: services sector - 16.6%, energy complex - 14%, industrial sector and trade - 6.4% each, construction - 4.9 % A year earlier, in December 2018 compared to December 2017, the agricultural sector and the energy sector were in decline - by 2% and 18.7%, respectively, and the rest of the sectors showed growth: services - 22.2%, industrial sector - 5.5%, trade - 4 , 8%, construction - 1.2%. According to statistical data, in January-December 2019, the trading sector with the volume of 3.249 trillion holds leadership in absolute terms. drams ($ 6.8 billion). In the second position, the industrial sector recovered - 2.104 trillion ($ 4.4 billion), displacing the services sector in third place - 2.062 trillion drams ($ 4.3 billion), in the fourth - agricultural sector - 852.8 billion drams ($ 1.8 billion), and in the fifth - construction sector - 434.6 billion drams ($ 904.6 million). The volume of electricity generation in January- December 2019 amounted to 7632.3 million kWh, of which 765.2 million kWh - only in December.
At the same time, the foreign trade turnover of Armenia in January-December 2019 amounted to 3912.9 billion drams ($ 8154.1 million) with a slowdown in annual growth to 10.4% from 16.4% in 2018. In its structure, export volume accelerated annual growth - up to 9.4% from 7.8% in 2018, amounting to AMD 1267.1 billion ($ 2640.3 million), while annual growth in imports slowed sharply to 10.8% from 21.1% in 2018, amounting to 2645.8 billion drams ($ 5513.8 million). The average settlement rate of dram in December 2019 was 478.24 dr / $ 1, and in January-December 2019 - 480.45 dr / $ 1, against 484.67 dr / $ 1 in December 2018 and 482.99 dr / $ 1 - in January December 2018 It should be noted that according to the forecast of the World Bank updated in early January 2020, it indicated an increase in expectations of Armenia's GDP growth in 2019 by 6.9% (compared to the previous 5.5%), and for 2020 it was predicted to slow down to 5.1% with acceleration in 2021 and 2022 to 5.2%. IMF forecasts for Armenia's GDP growth were much more modest: in 2019 by 4.6% with a slowdown in 2020 to 4.5%. The Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, judging by the forecast updated in December, once again improved its expectations for GDP growth for 2019, indicating a range of 7-7.3% (7.2% on average), against 6.7-7.2% previously forecasted (average 6.9%). For 2020, the Central Bank and the government came up with a similar forecast to the IMF growth.
