ArmInfo. In the first half of 2020, the trade sector of Armenia registered decline by 11.1% (from growth by 8.9% a year earlier), providing a volume of 1.3 trillion drams ($ 2.6 billion). According to the RA Statistical Committee, in June alone the trade sector provided revenue in 235.7 billion drams ($ 489.8 million), with a monthly growth of 14.3%. This dynamic is due to the fact that the wholesale and retail trade turned the vector from growth to decline, while the car trade accelerated the decline. In particular, wholesale trade in the first half of the year showed a decrease by 8% (against growth by 12.2% a year earlier), amounting to 640 billion drams ($ 1.3 billion). In June alone, the proceeds of wholesale trade increased by 15.2% - up to 123.3 billion drams.
At the same time, the retail sales revenue fell by 14.2% over the reporting period (against growth by 8.2%), amounting to 580 billion drams ($ 1.2 billion). In June alone, the retail sales revenue increased by 11.3% to 103.3 billion drams.
In the structure of retail trade, the largest turnover is provided by shops (including supermarkets) - 467.7 billion drams, or 80.6% (with a y-o-y decline of 12.9%), other retail facilities - 73.6 billion drams, or 12.7% (with a y-o-y decline of 17.5%), followed by consumer goods markets - 21.3 billion or 3.7% (with a y-o-y decline of 27.7%), stalls and kiosks - 12.4 billion or 2.1% ( with a y-o-y decline of 15.2%), and agricultural markets - 4.9 billion or 0.9% (with a y-o-y decline of 18%). The volume of purchase / sale of cars in the first half of 2020 accelerated the y-o-y decline from 8.2% to 10.2%, amounting to 42.8 billion drams ($ 88.6 million). In June alone, car trade increased its volumes by 44.5% - to 9.23 billion drams. In the structure of the total trade turnover of Armenia, the lion's share (50.7%) falls on wholesale trade, 45.9% - on retail, and 3.4% - on buying / selling cars. The average calculated AMD exchange rate in June 2020 amounted to 481.27 AMD / $ 1, and in the first half of the year - 483.50 AMD / $ 1, against 478.47 AMD / $ 1 in June 2019 and 484.16 AMD / $ 1 in the I half of 2019.