Net inflow of transfers from individuals to Armenia increased in  January-September 2020 by 28.5% per annum

ArmInfo. Growth of the net inflow of transfers from individuals to Armenia in January-September 2020 by 28.5% per annum- up to $ 429.6 million (against a 25.69%  decline a year earlier) is supported by a jump in the net inflow of  remittances from the United States - 8- fold to $ 200.6 million  (against a 4-fold decline a year earlier). According to the Central  Bank of Armenia, the inflow of individual transfers to Armenia from  the United States in January-September 2020 accelerated the annual  growth from 29.3% to 50.7%, amounting to $ 301.6 million, while the  outflow of transfers from Armenia to the United States from last  year's 71.6 % growth went down 56.9%, amounting to $ 101.04 million.

At the same time, the inflow of transfers from Russia to Armenia in  January-September 2020 accelerated the annual decline to 26.7% from  0.7% in the same period of 2019, and the outflow of transfers from  Armenia to Russia grew by 10.1% from 11. 3% decline a year earlier.  This worsened the annual dynamics of the net inflow of transfers from  Russia to a 49.1% decline in January-September 2020 from 7.1% growth  in January-September 2019. As a result, the inflow of transfers from  Russia amounted to $ 560.4 million in January-September 2020, and the  outflow to Russia - $ 318.4 million, which formed a net inflow in  this direction at the level of $ 242.04 million. The gap between the  inflow and outflow of transfers in the Armenia-Russia direction has  narrowed in five years from 4 to 2 times while in the direction of  Armenia- USA this gap increased from 2 to 3 times.

In total, the inflow of transfers from individuals to Armenia turned  the annual dynamics in January- September 2020 towards 8.8% decline  from 9.1% growth in the same period of 2019, amounting to $ 1.3  billion. A more noticeable deterioration in the trend was observed in  outflow of transfers - a reversal from 28.7% growth to 20.5% decline,  the volume of which amounted to $ 848.8 million. In the inflow, the  share of Russia decreased in January-September 2020 to 43.8% from  54.6% in January- September 2019 (against 60.2% in January-September  2018), while increasing in outflow - from 27.1% to 37.5% (against  39.3% in January-September 2018). And the share of the United States  in the inflow, on the contrary, increased in y- o-y terms from 14.3%  to 23.6% (against 12.1% in January-September 2018), while decreasing  in the outflow from 22% to 12% (against 16, 5% in January-September  2018).

In January-September 2020 (September compared to December 2019), the  inflow of transfers from individuals to Armenia decreased by 12%, and  in August alone there was a decline of 2.1%, while a year earlier a  nine-month decline of 4.7% was accompanied by a September decline of  8.4%. The outflow demonstrated a more significant decline in the  reporting period - by 16.8% in 9 months with a September growth of  23.5%, against last year's 5% growth in 9 months with a 17.5% decline  in September. Moreover, in the direction of the Russian Federation, a  nine-month decline was observed both in the inflow (by 30.7%) and in  the outflow (by 42.6%), and in September alone in both cases there  was a decline of 9.6% and 19.9%. respectively. As for transfers to  the USA, the nine-month and September dynamics of inflow and outflow  are upward. Thus, the increase in the inflow of transfers from the  United States for 9 months in 2 times was accompanied by an increase  in outflow by 35.9%, and in September alone, the growth in inflow and  outflow amounted to 10.5% and 27.9%, respectively. As a result, the  net inflow of transfers from Russia was in decline over 9 months  (13.9%) with a September growth of 2.8%, and from the United States  it was in growth both in 9 months (by 2.5 times) and in September  (5.7%). As a result, over 9 months, the net inflow of transfers from  individuals to Armenia slowed down the decline to 0.7%, while in  September alone it reversed from growth to 30% decline.  To note, the  Central Bank of Armenia in its September updated forecast for 2020  slightly improved expectations for a decline in the inflow of private  transfers to 19-22% from the previously expected 22- 25%. The Central  Bank in this updated forecast report draws attention to the change in  the country structure of private transfers, noting that the reduced  volume of transfers from Russia is being made up by remittances from  the United States and other countries, presumably due to growing  transfers of an "altruistic" nature. 

To recall, according to the Central Bank of Armenia, the inflow of  transfers from individuals to Armenia in 2019 increased by 9.7% - to  $ 1.959 billion, while the outflow grew by 22.4% - to $ 1.455  billion, as a result of which the net inflow of transfers decreased  by 15.5 % - to $ 504 million. The share of Russia decreased in 2019  both in the inflow - from 58.8% to 53.9%, and in the outflow - from  39.7% to 29.3%.  The inflow of transfers from Russia to Armenia in  2019 came out of recession to growth by 0.6%, while the outflow of  money to Russia, on the contrary, went from growth to decline by  9.7%, which led to the trend of net inflow of transfers from Russia  out of a 9% decline.