ArmInfo. The poverty rate in Armenia in 2021 was 26.5%. At the same time, the indicator in 2021, compared to 2020, decreased (by 0.5 p.e.), compared to 2019, it increased by 0.1%. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this on December 1 at a regular meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The head of government stressed that since 2019, the poverty rate has been calculated using a new methodology, which makes it impossible to compare data before 2019 with data available after 2019. The Prime Minister also touched upon the growth of extreme poverty in Armenia in 2021 compared to 2019 (by 0.1%) and from 2020 (by 0.8%). According to the prime minister, this suggests that anti-crisis measures during the COVID-19 pandemic were strictly targeted. , Pashinyan said.
According to him, he instructed the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs to deeply analyze the structure of poverty and develop a strategy to overcome it. , Nikol Pashinyan emphasized. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan, in turn, noted that unemployment decreased in 2022, which, according to the data of the second quarter of 2022, is up to 13%, and in 2021 the figure was at the level of 14.5%.
As for jobs, at the moment, 3,260 vacancies have been collected in the Unified Social Service, but according to other data from the Statistical Committee, there are 9,800 vacancies for the second quarter of 2022. "This means that, on the one hand, 50,400 registered unemployed people, or 8.000 less than in 2021," Narek Mkrtchyan said. The Minister also said that according to the analysis carried out jointly with the State University of Economics of Armenia, the demand for labor in the next three years will increase in the areas of agriculture, construction, wholesale, retail trade, transport, technology and healthcare and information.
It should be noted that according to the report of the RA Statistical Committee published on November 30, which presents the results of last year, although the poverty rate in 2021 decreased by 0.5 p.p. compared to 2020, the level of extreme poverty increased 2.1-fold: from 0.7% in 2020 to 1.5% in 2021. Gegharkunik is the poorest region in Armenia, where, as of 2021, the poverty rate was 49.1%, in Shirak - 46.9%. In these two regions, the poverty rate is much higher than in other regions of the country. The lowest poverty rate was registered in Syunik, where, by the way, due to the mining industry and the highest level of wages. Compared to 2020, the poverty rate in Shirak has increased significantly - from 42.9% to 46.9%. In Gegharkunik, this figure increased by one percent. Citizens whose monthly expenses are less than 48,145 drams are considered poor. If the monthly consumption does not reach 26,500 drams, then such persons are considered extremely poor.
