Industrial sector driver of economic activity in Armenia 

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the growth of economic activity in January- February 2024 accelerated to 13.6%  per annum (from 10.9% in the same period in 2023). The growth driver was the industrial sector. As preliminary data from the RA Statistical Committee indicate, this was accompanied by a noticeable acceleration in the upward dynamics of exports and imports.

Despite the fact that the preliminary statistical report does not  provide for the disclosure of more detailed information,  nevertheless, judging by the data of previous months, it can be  assumed that high growth in the industrial sector comes to a greater  extent from the jewelry industry, and to a slightly lesser extent  from the leather industry, woodworking industry, production of  electrical equipment, furniture, finished metal products.

According to statistics, the growth in economic activity in  January-February 2024 was largely determined by the industrial sector  - with a sharp acceleration in annual rates from 1% to 28.9%, and to  a slightly lesser extent by the trade sector - with an acceleration  in rates from 18% to 24.1% . A slowdown in growth during this period  was recorded in the construction sector - from 13.2% to 10.8% and in  the services sector - from 23.5% to 5.2%. The energy complex remained  in decline, with the pace accelerating from 0.2% to 4.9%.  The  dynamics of the agricultural sector are not given in this statistical  report.

According to statistical data for January-February 2024, in absolute  terms, the leadership is held by the trade sector with a volume of  749.1 billion drams ($1.9 billion). The second place in terms of  volume is occupied by the service sector - 473.1 billion drams ($1.2  billion), the third is the industrial sector - 461.6 billion ($1.1  billion), the fourth position, due to the lack of data from the  agricultural sector, is occupied by the construction sector - 41.6  billion drams ($102.7 million). The volume of electricity generation  in January-February 2024 amounted to 1594.4 million kWh, of which in  February alone - 778.7 million kWh.

At the same time, in February 2024 by February 2023, economic  activity also accelerated in growth to 16.3% (from 11.3% a year  earlier), and in February alone the dynamics went from a 45.1%  decline to 11.2%. -th growth (against the dynamics for February 2023  from a 46.1% decline to a 6.5% increase).  Moreover, in February  2024, the industrial sector emerged from a 43.1% decline to a  double-digit growth of 18.9% (versus the dynamics of a 41.9% decline  to a 2.3% growth in February 2023). The same reversal of dynamics was  observed in the construction and trade sectors - from an 86.1-51.7%  decline to a 35.5-21% increase, while the services sector remained in  decline with a slowdown from 17.2% to 0 .3%. The dynamics in the  energy complex worsened in February - from 2% growth to 4.5% decline.

On an annual basis (February 2024 to February 2023), all sectors  showed an upward trend, except for the energy complex, which was in  decline (3.1%). In particular, the industrial sector showed the  highest annual growth - by 36.4%, followed by the trade sector -  28.3%, the construction sector - 11.7%, and the service sector - 6%.  A year earlier, in February 2023 by February 2022, all these areas  showed growth: the service sector - by 21.2%, the trade sector - by  18.2%, the construction sector - by 13.9%, the energy complex - by  1.3%, industrial sector - by 0.7%.

Against this background, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in  January-February 2024 exceeded 2.1 trillion.  drams (over $5.3  billion), accelerating in annual growth to 2 times (from 77.7% in the  same period in 2023). This is due to a more noticeable acceleration  in the annual growth of exports - from 96.4% to 2.6 times, than  imports - from 67.4% to 73.2%, the absolute value of which amounted  to 1.04 trillion and 1.1 trillion drams ($2.6 billion and $2.8)  respectively.

In February 2024, compared to February 2023, foreign trade turnover  increased 2.2 times due to a jump in exports by 2.9 times and an  increase in imports by 79.9%, which was observed at a slightly  restrained pace a year earlier in February 2023 compared to February  2022, when the growth of foreign trade turnover by 79.5% came from an  increase in exports by 2.1 times and imports by 62.3%.

From 2023, the methodology for calculating the volumes of generated  electricity has changed in statistical reports; in particular, the  volumes of electricity generated by autonomous producers also began  to be taken into account. For the agricultural sector, data is  published only in quarterly and annual statistical reports.  (The  average settlement exchange rate of the dram was 404.61 dr/$1 in  January-February 2024).