Wednesday, April 5 2023 15:14

ArmInfo.In Armenia, economic activity in January-February 2023 increased by 10.9% compared to January-February 2022 (against 12% growth a year earlier), far  exceeding the pre-Covid 6.5% growth of the same period in 2019.

In February 2022, compared to February 2021, economic activity increased  by 11.3% (against 9% growth a year earlier and 7.6% growth in the  same period in 2019). And in February alone, this indicator increased  by 6.5%, against a 6% increase in February 2022 and a 9.3% increase  in February 2019. This is evidenced by the final data of the RA  Statistical Committee, according to which the drivers of the y-o-y  growth in economic activity (in January-February) were the service  sector, the trade sector and the construction sector.

According to statistical data, in January-February, the largest y-o-y  growth, and at an accelerating pace, was distinguished by the service  sector - 23.5%, the trade sector - 18% and the construction sector -  13.2%.  At the same time, the upward trend in the industrial sector  slowed down significantly to 1%, and the energy complex turned  sharply from the leading double-digit growth towards a 0.2% decline.  Data for the agricultural sector have not been published. A year  earlier (January-February 2022 versus January-February 2021), all  areas showed growth: the energy complex - 21.9%, the service sector -  20.1%, the industrial sector - 9.7%, the trade sector - 8.2% and the  construction sector - 4.9%. As a comparison, we note that in the same  period of pre-Covid 2019, the construction sector provided the  largest growth - by 21.6%, the service sector - by 17.5%, the trade  sector - by 13.1%, compared to which the growth rates of the  industrial sector were significantly lower, 1.9%, and the energy  complex recorded a decline of 21%.

In y-o-y terms (February 2023 to February 2022), the service sector,  the trade sector and the construction sector also showed the largest  growth - 21.2%, 18.2% and 13.9%, respectively, while a year earlier  these sectors showed a more modest growth of 19%, 5.3% and 6.3%. The  industrial sector and the energy complex also showed growth, but very  modestly - 0.7% and 1.3%, respectively- significantly lower than last  year's rates of 3.7% and 25.1%. In pre-Covid 2019, during this  period, growth was demonstrated by the construction sector - by  21.3%, the service sector - by 19.3%, the trade sector - by 8.3%, the  industrial sector - by 4.7%, and the energy complex was in decline by  14.5%.

In February 2023, a 7.8% decline was observed in the energy complex  and in the service sector by 2.1%, while an increase was recorded in  other sectors, with the construction and trade sector standing out at  high rates by 32.8% and 12.6%, respectively, and the industrial  sector showed a 2.3% growth. A year earlier, in February 2022, the  only decline was also observed in the energy complex - by 10.3%,  while other areas showed growth: the construction sector - 30.8%, the  trade sector - 11.9%, the industrial sector and the service sector -  1.4% each. In the pre-Covid-2019 period, in February, the largest  growth was again shown by the construction and trade sectors - 29%  and 18.4%, respectively, followed by the industrial sector - 8.9%,  the service sector - 5.4%, and the energy complex was even then in  decline by 6.1%.

The industrial products price index in January-February 2023  increased by 0.8% per annum, with an increase in February by 1.9% and  a y-o-y decline of 0.1% (February 2023 to February 2022). A year  earlier, in January-February 2022, an increase in the price index of  industrial products by 10.7% per annum was recorded, with an increase  by 3.7% in February, and an increase by 12.3% compared to February  2021.

In January-February 2023, the absolute leader is the trade sector,  with a volume of 622.5 billion drams ($1.6 billion). The service  sector returned to the second placee - 427.6 billion drams ($1.1  billion), moving the industrial sector with a volume of 362.6 billion  ($918.8 million)to the third place, and the construction sector with  a volume of 37.6 billion drams ($95.3 million ranked fourth due to  the lack of data from the agricultural sector, which traditionally  occupies this position. The volume of electricity production in  January-February 2023 was 1675.7 million kWh, of which 804 million  were in February.

Against this background, Armenia's foreign trade turnover accelerated  y-o-y growth from 52.4% to 77.7%, reaching 998.7 billion drams ($2.5  billion) in January-February 2023. The same acceleration of rising  rates was observed both in exports - from 40.1% to 96.4%, and in  imports - from 60.2% to 67.4%, respectively, reaching 392.6 billion  drams ($994.4 million) and 606.1 billion drams ($1.5 billion). In  February 2023, the dynamics of foreign trade turnover recorded an  increase of 14.6% from a decrease of 25.9% in January,, which was due  to an improvement in the trend of exports and imports: exports from  22.6% decline to 21.8% growth, and imports from 27.9% decline to  10.2% growth. And in February 2023 compared to February 2022, a  significant increase in foreign trade turnover by 79.5% was provoked  to a greater extent by a 2.1-fold increase in exports, and to a  slightly lesser extent by an increase in imports by 62.3%, while a  year earlier (February 2022 to February 2021) the 44.9% growth in  foreign trade turnover was more due to an increase in imports by  54.7% than exports by 29.1%.

The average settlement rate of the dram in January-February 2023 was  394.67 AMD/$1, and in February 2023 - 393.45 AMD/$1, against 481.12  AMD/$1 in January-February 2022 and 480.24 AMD/$1 in February 2022