ArmInfo.In Armenia, the industrial price index increased in January-September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, reaching 102.9% from last year's 101.3%.
This increase was noted alongside a double-digit growth in the industrial sector of 12.6%, totaling AMD 2.1 trillion ($5.4 billion). This marks a significant improvement from the 0.6% decline recorded the previous year. These data are provided in the report released by the RA Statistical Committee.
According to statistics, in September 2024 the industrial price index increased to 102.9%, compared to September 2023. This was also observed a year earlier in September 2023 compared to September 2022, but at that time this figure was higher - 105.2%. During the period under review, the volumes of the industrial sector also showed growth of 4.6%, while a year earlier a decline of 4.3% was recorded. It is noteworthy that inflation in the consumer market of Armenia decreased significantly during these periods. In particular, in January-September 2024, inflation reached zero compared to 2,8 % in the same period in 2023. In September 2024 inflation increased to 0.6% from 0.1% a year earlier compared to September 2023.
Moreover, zero inflation in the consumer market in January-September 2024 was supported by a 2.1% decline in food prices. Low annual inflation in September 2024 came from a 1.7% decline in non-food prices and a 0.5% decline in food prices, while utility tariffs continued to rise during these periods. For comparison, in 2023, during the same periods, the following dynamics of food prices were recorded: in January-September - an increase of 1.5% per annum, in September - a decline of 1.9% per annum. Additionally an increase in the price of services was observed during these periods, similar to the current trend.
It is worth noting that there has been a slowdown in the annual growth of economic activity in Armenia from 9.7% to 8.7% in January-September 2024, with a slight acceleration of growth in September of this year from 5.6% to 7% per annum. Additionally, there has been an acceleration in the annual growth of foreign trade turnover in January-September 2024 to 73.5% from last year's 47.2%, due to the acceleration of export growth from 48.5% to 2.1 times and import growth from 46.4% to 54.2%. Moreover, in September 2024, compared to September 2023, the volume of foreign trade accelerated in growth less noticeably - from last year's 15.9% to the current 22.4%. This increase was largely due to the accelerated growth rates of exports from 31.5% to 38.9%, rather than imports which increased from 5.6% to 11.9%. (The average settlement exchange rate of the dram in January-September 2023 was AMD 393.34 / $ 1).
