ArmInfo.A deflation of 1% was recorded in the consumer market of Armenia in January- October 2020, against a deflationary 1.6% in the same period of 2019.
This was due to a decrease in the price of food products (including alcohol and cigarettes) by 3.4%, while the price of non-food products rose by 0.4% and tariffs for services increased by 1.2%. According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, in y-o-y terms (compared to January-October 2019), the consumer market recorded inflation of 0.9% (against inflationary 1.6% a year ago), which was facilitated by the rise in prices of food and non-food products by 0.7%, and 0.8%, respectively, and an increase in tariffs for services by 1.3%. The average monthly decline in prices on the consumer market amounted to 0.1% in January-October 2020, against a 0.2% decline a year earlier.
In October 2020 to October 2019, consumer prices increased by 1.3% due to the rise in prices for food products by 1.5% and non-food products by 0.6%, with an increase in tariffs for services by 1.4%. In October 2020 alone, inflation of 0.5% was recorded due to the rise in prices for food products by 0.8% and non-food products by 0.7%, while tariffs for services remained unchanged. In Yerevan, consumer prices increased by 0.4% in October 2020, against growth by 0.7% a year earlier.
In October 2020, a 0.5% increase in consumer prices was accompanied by a 1% devaluation of the dram against the dollar, and in January-October against the background of 1% deflation, a 2.8% devaluation of the dram against the dollar was observed (against 1.6% deflation and dram by 1.7% a year earlier). The calculated exchange rate of the dram to the dollar in October 2020 averaged 491.7 AMD / $ 1, exceeding the level of a year ago by 3.2% (476.3 AMD / $ 1).
It should be noted that inflation of 0.6% was recorded in the consumer market of Armenia in October 2019, as a result of an increase in the price of food products by 0.9% and non-food products by 0.6%, while tariffs for services remained unchanged. In October 2019 to October 2018, inflation of 0.9% in the consumer market was provoked by a 1.2% rise in prices for non-food products and 0.5% for food products, as well as an increase in tariffs for services by 1.3%. In January-October 2019, a deflation of 1.6% was recorded due to a decrease in the price of food products (including alcohol and cigarettes) by 4.6%, a rise in prices for non-food products by 1.2% and an increase in tariffs for services by 0.9% . In y-o-y terms (compared to January-October 2018), inflation in the consumer market of 1.6% was caused by increased prices for food and non-food products - by 2.4% and 1.5%, respectively, as well as an increase in tariffs for services by 0.4%.
