Gold re-export contributed to Armenia`s economic activity this  Jan-Aug - minister

ArmInfo. In the first eight months of this year, the growth rate of economic activity in Armenia amounted to 9%. This was stated by the RA Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan on October 28 during the discussions in the commissions of the RA National Assembly on the draft state budget of the country for 2025.

The Minister, referring to the data of the RA Statistics Committee,  noted that the growth of economic activity is mainly due to the  growth of trade, services, industry, and construction.

According to Hovhannisyan, positive changes are also observed in the  labor market. According to data for this period, the average monthly  salary increased by 6.6%. At the same time, in the public sector,  salaries increased by 10.1%, in the private sector - by 5.4%. Real  wages, in conditions of deflation of 0.1%, increased by 6.7%.

At the same time, as Hovhannisyan emphasized, exports from Armenia in  January-September 2024 increased by 2.1 times, but the growth in the  supply of goods directly produced in Armenia amounted to only 1.4%.  This is explained by the fact that the statistics include gold, which  is partially processed in Armenia, but its main value is formed  outside its borders. Imports for the specified period increased by  56.5%, but excluding re-exports, they decreased by 5.2%. According to  the minister, next year, the growth in exports due to re-exports will  probably gradually decrease. The minister also noted that without  taking into account the re-export of gold, economic activity in  Armenia in January-August would have amounted to 6.4% instead of the  recorded 9%.

The growth of economic activity, as the Minister noted, has led to a  4.9% increase in the number of hired workers this year, which, in  turn, contributed to a decrease in the unemployment rate by the same  amount.  In absolute figures, the average salary reached 282.6  thousand drams. Earlier, ArmInfo, citing data from the RA Statistical  Committee, reported that economic activity growth in Armenia in  January-September 2024 slowed down to 8.7% per annum (from 9.7% in  the same period of 2023). But unlike last year, the industrial sector  has become one of the growth drivers. 

The growth of economic activity in January-September 2024 was largely  due to the trade sector - with a slowdown in growth rates from 23.3%  to 19.5%, the construction sector - with a slowdown in annual growth  rates from 17% to 15.9%, and the industrial sector - with an exit  from a 0.6% decline to 12.6% growth. A strong slowdown in growth  during this period was recorded in the services sector - from 13.4%  to 5.9%. The annual dynamics of the energy complex improved - with an  exit from a 2.8% decline to 1.2% growth. The agricultural sector  maintained growth, almost repeating the pace of a year ago with an  imperceptible acceleration from 1.7% to 1.8%.

At the same time, in September 2024, compared to September 2023, the  growth of economic activity accelerated from last year's 5.6% to the  reported 7%, and in September alone it slowed to 6.6% from August's  7.2% (against the slowdown in growth in September 2023 from 6.2% to  3.7%). Moreover, in September 2024, the industrial sector  significantly slowed down in growth from 7.5% to 1.6%, which was also  observed a year earlier in the same month, when the trend reversed  from 8.1% growth towards a 0.6% decline.