ArmInfo.In Armenia, economic activity in January-September 2021 showed an increase of 4.4% (against a decline of 6.6% a year earlier), while in the pre-COVID period an increase of 7.1% was registered (in the same period of 2019). This is evidenced by the preliminary data of the RA Statistical Committee.
In September of this year by September 2020 economic activity increased by 2.4% (against a decline of 7.5% a year earlier), while in September 2021 alone, it accelerated growth to 12.6% from 2.3% in August. During the pre-COVID period, in September 2019 compared to September 2018, economic activity increased by 7.8%, and the same growth (by 7.8%) was recorded in September 2019.
According to statistics, the growth drivers of economic activity in January-September 2021 were the construction sector (by 6.4%), the trade sector (by 6.4%) and the service sector (by 5.4%). At the same time, the industrial sector showed insignificant growth - 0.7% alone. And the energy complex and the agricultural sector were in decline - by 2.7% and 1.5%, respectively. A year earlier, in January-September 2020, the only sectors that remained in growth were the industrial sector, the agricultural sector and the energy complex - 1%, 0.5% and 1.5% per annum, respectively. And the rest of the industries showed a serious decline: construction - by 15.7%, trade - by 11.4%, services - by 11.7%.
The industrial product price index in January-September 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 increased by 9.8%; in September 2021 compared to September 2020 - by 9.9%, and in September 2021 alone an increase by 2.7 % was recorded from the August decline of 0.4%. A year earlier, in January- September 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, the industrial product price index increased by 1.8%, in September 2020 compared to September 2019 - by 3.9%, and in September 2020 alone - by 0.9%.
On a monthly terms (for September), the decisive impetus to the growth of economic activity was given by the construction sector, which increased volumes by 10.1% (against growth by 9.4% in September 2020 and 27.8% growth in August 2021), and in to a relatively lesser extent, by the industrial sector - 5.9% (against 3.1% growth in September 2020 and 0.6% growth in August 2021), the service sector - by 3.4% (against 4.1% growth in September 2020 and 1% growth in August 2021), the trade sector - by 1.6% (against 5.2% growth in September 2020 and 0.2% growth in August 2021). At the same time, the energy complex in September slowed down the decline to 4.5% from 8.8% in August (against 3.7% decline in September 2020).
On a y-o-y terms (from September 2021 to September 2020), the service sector showed growth - by 9.6% (against a decline of 18.3% a year earlier), the construction sector - by 2.6% (against an increase of 0.6% a year earlier), the trade sector - by 1.4% (against a decline of 10.8% a year earlier). The industrial sector showed a decline - by 1.2% (against 1.8% growth a year earlier) and the energy complex - by 2.9% (against a 1.7% decline a year earlier).
According to statistics in January-September 2021, the absolute leadership is held by the trading sector with a volume of 2.4 trillion drams ($ 4.6 billion). The second place was held by the industrial sector with a volume of 1.6 trillion ($ 3.1 billion), the third place was held by the services sector - 1.4 trillion drams ($ 2.6 billion), the fourth place continues to be occupied by the agricultural sector - 619.4 billion drams ($ 1.2 billion), and the fifth - the construction sector - 254.4 billion drams ($ 497.5 million). The volume of electricity generation in January-September 2021 was 5 580.9 million kWh.
Armenia's foreign trade turnover in January-September 2021 amounted to 2.9 trillion drams ($ 5.7 billion), which is 12.2% higher than a year ago. Moreover, the increase in export volumes turned out to be more significant - by 17.2% to 1.1 trillion drams ($ 2.1 billion) than imports - by 9.4% to 1.8 trillion drams ($ 3.6 billion). In September 2021, the growth of foreign trade turnover slowed down from 4.9% to 1.3%, due to a decrease in export volumes by 16%, while import growth accelerated to 12.2%. And in September 2021 compared to September 2020, an increase in foreign trade turnover by 7.8% was provoked by an increase in imports by 20.1%, while exports fell by 11.5%.
A year earlier, in January-September 2020, the decline in Armenia's foreign trade turnover by 10.5% was provoked by a decline in exports by 4.4% and imports by 13.7%; in September alone, foreign trade turnover increased by 4.9% due to a slowdown in import growth from 7.3% to 2.7%, while export growth accelerated from 3.4% to 8.7%, and compared to September 2019, a decline in foreign trade turnover by 12.4% is associated with a decrease in imports by 20.4%, while exports increased by 4.6%.
The average calculated exchange rate of the dram in September 2021 was AMD 488.12 / $ 1, and in January-September 2021 - AMD 511.47 / $ 1, versus AMD 486.69 / $ 1 in September 2020 and AMD 484.20 / $ 1 - in January-September 2020.
