ArmInfo.The volume of industrial production in Armenia in January 2021 versus the same period in 2020 decreased by 10.8% per annum (against growth by 13.4% a year earlier) and compared to December 2020 by 42.9%, amounting to 137.3 billion drams ($ 263.5 million).
According to the data of the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the decline in the industrial sector is due to the reversal of the trend in the mining sector and the manufacturing industry from upward to downward.
Thus, in January 2021, against the same period of 2020 in the mining industry and open-pit development, a decline was recorded by 3.9% per year and by 2.8% per month (against an increase of 38.7% a year earlier) - to 39.6 billion drams.
Manufacturing industry volume in January 2021 decreased in y-o-y terms by 18.3% per annum (against 7.6% growth a year earlier), and in comparison with December 2020 by 60.3% - up to 68.5 billion drams. However, the structural dynamics in the manufacturing industry turned out to be multi-directional. Thus, despite the general decline, a significant increase in volumes in January 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 was recorded in the production of machinery and equipment - 3.6-fold, textile production - by 78.8%, computers and electronic / optical equipment - by 71.7%, electronic equipment - by 56.3%, clothing - by 18.9% , pharmaceutical products - by 14.4%, furniture - by 7.9%, beverages - by 2.7%, food - by 1%, other non-metallic products - by 0.1%.
At the same time, a decline was registered in the production of jewelry by 83.8%, cigarettes - by 40.5%, finished metal products - by 42.8%, chemical industry - by 26.8%, base metals - by 29%, rubber and plastic products - by 17.1%, printing activity - by 1.6%.
In the manufacturing industry, the leaders in terms of production are food - 25.1 billion drams, drinks - 10.7 billion drams, base metals - 10.5 billion drams, cigarettes - 7.5 billion drams.
According to statistics, the supply of electricity, gas, steam and conditioned air as a whole increased in January 2021 by 3.2% against the same period of 2020 (against an increase of 9.1% a year earlier) - up to AMD 27.5 billion. Moreover, the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in y-o-y terms decreased by 0.5%, with an increase of 16.3% in gas production, distribution of gaseous fuel through gas supply systems. Revenues from water supply, waste treatment and production of secondary raw materials in January 2021 decreased by 0.5% per annum (against 11.1% decline a year earlier) - to 1.7 billion drams, which was due to a decrease in collection volumes, processing and disposal of waste by 21.6%. To note, for the whole of 2020, industrial production in the country decreased over the year by 0.9%, amounting to 2.070 trillion drams ($ 4.2 billion) in absolute figures, against a growth registered in 2019 by 9%. The change from the upward dynamics to the downward one was triggered mainly by the slowdown in the growth rate of the mining sector from 23.9% to 11.6% and the decline in the manufacturing industry, which has continued since March, which amounted to 3.9% at the end of the year, 6% a year earlier). The average calculated exchange rate of the dram was 521.20 AMD / $ 1 in January 2021, against 479.21 AMD / $ 1 - in January 2020.
