ArmInfo.The growth of Armenia's economic activity in January-August 2021 accelerated to 13.9% per annum (from 4.9% a year earlier), accompanied by high growth in exports and imports. From August this year to August 2021, economic activity accelerated growth to 18.5% (from 2.3% a year earlier), while on a monthly terms it continued to slow down growth from July 8.5% to August 1.5%, which was also observed in 2021 - from July 7.5%to August 2.1%.
According to the preliminary data of the RA Statistical Committee, the growth of economic activity in January-August 2022 was largely determined by the following sectors: the service sector - by 27.1%, the energy complex - by 16.6%, the construction sector - by 14.2%, the trade sector - by 13.6%, and to a lesser extent, the industrial sector - by 9.2%. Data on the agricultural sector are published only quarterly in the reports of the Statistical Committee, starting from 2019. A year earlier, in January-August 2021, only the energy complex (1.5%) decreased by 1.5%, while all other industries showed growth: the construction sector - by 7.3%, the trade sector - by 7.1%, the service sector - by 5.3%, the industrial sector - by 1%. The industrial products price index increased in January-August 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 by 5.1%, in August 2022 compared to August 2021 it decreased by 3.5%, and in August 2022 alone it slowed down the decline to 1.8% from July 4.3%. A year earlier, in January-August 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, the price index of industrial products increased by 9.8%, in August 2021 compared to August 2020 it increased by 7.9%, while in August 2021 alone slowing down the decline to 0.4 % from July 3.3%.
On a monthly term (for August 2022), economic activity continued to grow due to high growth rates in the following sectors: the construction sector - by 26.5% (against July 12.5%), as well as the industrial sector - by 10.5% (with the exit from July 3.2% decline), and even the energy complex, despite a slowdown in growth to 2.7% from 13.8% in July. At the same time, the service sector lingered in the decline - with an acceleration of rates to 3.3% from 0.3% in July, and the trade sector reversed its dynamics in August towards a 0.9% decline from a July 9.3% growth. A year earlier, in August 2021, the construction sector also gave a decisive impetus to the growth of economic activity - accelerating to 27.8% from 12.1% in July, while other areas, with the exception of the energy complex, which was in an 8.8% decline, showed meager growth: the service sector - by 1% (against July 3.3%), the industrial sector - by 0.6% (against July stagnation), the trade sector - by 0.2% (against July 6.5%).
On a y-o-y terms (August 2021 to August 2020), all industries showed an upward trend, and the energy complex and the industrial sector managed to get out of the recession and provide a tangible increase in volumes. In particular, the energy complex showed the highest y-o-y growth - by 30.1%, followed by the growth rate of the service sector - 25.1%, the industrial sector - 23.3%, the trade sector - 20% and the construction sector - 16.3%. A year earlier, in August 2021 by August 2020, the improvement in growth dynamics was demonstrated by the service sector - by 10.8%, the trade sector - by 5% and the construction sector - by 2.3%, while the energy complex and the industrial sector lingered in the decline with acceleration rates up to 12.2% and 5.2% respectively.
According to statistical data in January-August 2022, in absolute terms, the leadership is held by the trading sector with a volume of 2.6 trillion drams ($5.7 billion). The industrial sector ranks second in terms of volume- 1.65 trillion ($3.6 billion), the service sector ranks third - by 1.59 trillion drams ($3.5 billion), and due to the lack of data on the agricultural sector the construction sector ranks fourth -by 243.1 billion drams ($536.3 million). The volume of electricity generation in January-August 2022 amounted to 5867.6 million kWh, of which 749.9 million kWh in August alone.
At the same time, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in January-August 2022 amounted to 3.5 trillion drams ($7.8 billion) with a y-o-y increase of 56.2% (against 12.7% growth a year earlier). In its terms, the growth of both exports and imports significantly accelerated - up to 52.9% and 58.2% per annum, respectively (from 21.8% and 7.7% a year earlier), reaching 1.3 trillion and 2.2 trillion drams ($2.9 billion and $4.9 billion). In August 2022 alone, foreign trade turnover increased by 17.6% as a result of an increase in exports by 17.5% and imports by 17.7%, while in August 2021, foreign trade turnover was in decline by 4.7% due to the decline imports by 8.2% with a meager growth in exports by 1.4%. In August 2022, compared to August 2021, foreign trade turnover increased 2.1-fold, and exactly the same increase was recorded both in exports and imports, while there was a decrease in foreign trade turnover in last year's y- o-y dynamics (August 2021 compared to August 2020) -by 0.1% due to the subsidence of import volumes by 7.3% with an increase in exports by 13.9%.
The average settlement rate of the dram in August 2021 was 405.75 AMD / $1, and in January-August 2021 - 453.27 AMD / $1, against 491.73 AMD / $1 - in August 2020 and 514.38 AMD / $1 - in January- August 2020
