Industrial products price index in Armenia in Jan-Oct 2023 decreased to 101.6% from 103.4%  

ArmInfo. In Armenia, In January-October 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, the price index of industrial products decreased to 101.6% from last year's 103.4%. 

This was observed against the backdrop of a decline in industrial sector volumes by 0.5% - to 2.1 trillion  drams ($5.4 billion), while a year earlier an increase of 9.9% was recorded. Such data are provided in the  report of the RA Statistical Committee.

According to statistics, in October 2023, compared to October 2022, the price index of industrial products,  on the contrary, increased to 104.3%, while a year earlier in October 2022, Compared to October 2021, this  indicator decreased and made 97.1%. During this period under review, the industrial sector showed a  meager growth in volumes of 0.6%, while a year earlier a high growth rate of 9.7% was recorded.

It is noteworthy that inflation in the consumer market of Armenia has noticeably decreased during these  considered periods. In particular, in January-October 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, inflation  dropped to 2.5% from last year's 8.7%, and in October 2023, compared to October 2022, it decreased to a  meager 0.1% from inflation of 9.5% in the year previously. Moreover, this reduction in inflation was  mainly supported by the food market. However, for now there are a number of food products, the prices of  which are not easy to be decreased, besides, services continue to become more expensive.

It is worth noting that this tendency is accompanied by a slowdown in the growth rate of economic activity  in Armenia from 14.5% to 9.2% per annum, and from 17.5% to 6%in October of this year by October 2022.  In parallel, there is a slowdown in the y-o-y growth of foreign trade turnover to 41.2% in January-October  2023 from last year's 66.4%, as a result of a slowdown in the growth of exports and imports from 71.2- 63.5% to 38.5-42.9%. Moreover, in October 2023, compared to October 2022, the volume of foreign trade  stalled in growth much more noticeably - from last year's 91% to the current 19.2% due to a similar  slowdown in the upward dynamics of exports and imports from impressive growth to the reported 14.4- 22.4%. (The average settlement exchange rate for the dram in January-October 2023 was 390.27 AMD/$1).