Saturday, January 30 2021 15:51

ArmInfo.. In Armenia, economic activity decreased in January- December 2020 by 7.5% per annum, against an increase of 7.8% in 2019.

The industry growth previous drivers in the reporting year were in recession, and only the agricultural sector and the energy complex were able to get out of the recession towards growth. According to the preliminary data of the Statistical Committee of the  Republic of Armenia, in December 2020 alone, an increase in economic activity  was recorded by 27.7%, with a y-o-y decline of 8.8% (compared to December 2019),  while in 2019 both December and annual dynamics were upward - 24.9% and 10.7% respectively.

The decline in economic activity in January-December 2020 came mainly  from the service sector - by 14.7% and the trade sector - by 14%, to a  lesser extent from the construction sector - by 9.5% and the industrial  sector - by 0.9% .At the same time, the energy complex and the agricultural  sector turned towards growth by 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. A year earlier,  in January-December 2019, the highest growth was demonstrated by the service sector,  the industrial sector and the trade sector - 15%, 9% and 8.9%, respectively, against  the background of a modest growth in the construction sector by 4.6%, with a decline  in the energy complex by 1.9 % and the agricultural sector by 4.2%.

The industrial product price index increased in January-December 2020  against the same period of 2019 by 2.4%, in December 2020 against December 2019  - by 4.6%, and for December 2020 alone - by 2.6%, against, respectively, growth  by 0.5%, 1.4% and 2.6% in the same periods in 2019.  In monthly terms (December 2020),  not considering the data on the agricultural sector, all other sectors showed growth:   the construction sector - 77.7%, trade - 34.6%, the service sector - 16.3%, the energy  complex - 15.9%, industrial sector - 14.4%. A year earlier, in December 2019, growth was  also observed in these areas:  construction - 85%, trade - 27.7%, energy complex - 24.7%,  services - 21%, industry - 14.7%.

In y-o-y terms (December 2020 to December 2019), without data on the  agricultural sector, in other areas there was a decline: services - 22.6%, trade - 17.4%,  industrial sector - 5.8%, energy complex - 4.2% , construction - 3%. A year earlier, in December  2019 versus December 2018, these areas were in growth:  the service sector - 16.6%, the energy  complex - 14%, the industrial sector and trade - 6.4% each, construction - 4.9%.

According to statistics in January-December 2020, the absolute  leadership is held by the trade sector with a volume of 2.9 trillion drams ($ 5.8 billion). The  industrial sector held the second place - 2.1 trillion ($ 4.2 billion), the service sector rose to  the third place - 1.7 trillion drams ($ 3.5 billion), the fourth - the agricultural sector - 819.3  billion drams ($ 1.7 billion), and the fifth- construction sector - 413.8 billion drams ($ 846.3 million).  The volume of electricity generation in January-December 2020 amounted to 7723.4 million kWh, of which 732.9 million kWh. - in December alone.

At the same time, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in  January-December 2020 amounted to 3.5 trillion drams ($ 7.1 billion) with a reversal of y-o-y

dynamics from 10.4% growth to 13.2% decline.  In its structure, the volume of exports dipped less 

significantly than imports, while a year earlier both items were in almost equally high growth. Thus,  the volume of exports dropped from 9.4% growth to 3.9% decline, amounting to 1.2 trillion drams  ($ 2.5 billion), and imports from 10.8% growth to 17.7% decline, amounting to 2.2 trillion drams  ($ 4.6 billion).

The average calculated AMD exchange rate in December 2020 was 518.91  AMD / $ 1, and in January- December 2020 - 489.01 AMD / $ 1, versus 478.24 AMD / $ 1 in December  2019 and 480.45 AMD / $ 1 in January -December 2019.

To note, according to the October forecast of the World Bank for  2020, a 6.3% decline in Armenia's GDP was expected. In its November forecast, the IMF predicted  Armenia's GDP to fall by more than 7% in 2020. And according to the December forecast of the Central Bank of Armenia, a decline in Armenia's GDP was expected by 7.2%.