Dramatic growth in Armenia`s gold exports, imports in 2023

ArmInfo. In 2023, Armenia  increased its export and import of gold (including galvanic  sputtering) several times. According to the data of the Customs  Service of Armenia, last year Armenia exported 29,122.3 kg of gold,  which is 3.2 times more than the figure for the previous year  (against a 2.3-fold increase in 2022). The customs value increased  4.3 times, amounting to $1.8 billion.

The bulk of exports went to the UAE (71.4%) and Hong Kong (25.4%),  much less was exported to India (2.7%), and the remaining tiny share  was distributed between China, Russia, Italy and the Czech Republic.

In 2023, 44,592.8 kg were imported. gold, with an annual growth of  7.7 times (versus a growth of 3.1 times in 2022), with an increase in  customs value of 6.3 times - up to $1.8 billion.

The main importer of gold to Armenia is Russia (99.2%), followed by  the UAE (0.5%) and Switzerland (0.1%), with even more meager volumes  supplied by Austria, Thailand, the USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia,  Germany, Italy and Chile. Meanwhile, according to statistics, the  volume of production in the jewelry industry in 2022 increased by  51.8% - to 42 billion drams. At the same time, precious metals/stones  and products made from them were exported in 2022 for $989.3 million  (with an annual growth of 3 times), and imported for $690.8 million  (with an annual growth of 2.8 times).

Further in 2023, the volume of production in the jewelry industry  jumped 4.9 times to 230.9 billion drams.  The significant growth in  exports and imports of precious metals/stones and products made of  them in 2023 not only continued, but also accelerated to 3.2-3.3  times with export volumes reaching $3.2 billion and imports reaching  $2.3 billion. But already in 2024, during the first half of the year,  the dynamics of production in the jewelry industry tried to exit  stagnation for weak growth, with an accompanying significant decline  in volumes, against which the export and import of jewelry products  continued to grow even more noticeably - by 8.1-9.4 times to $5.6  billion and $6.1 billion. According to experts, the very fact that  precious metals and stones have come to significantly dominate  exports and imports over these years, with low production volumes in  the jewelry industry, already indicates re-export and re-import,  which, judging by the data for the first half of 2024, are still  taking place.