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.
