ArmInfo.In Armenia, economic activity growth in January- December 2024 slowed down to 8% per annum (from 9.4% in 2023 and 14.2% in 2022). However, the trends in exports and imports have remained relatively stable. This is evidenced by preliminary data from the RA Statistical Committee.
Although the preliminary statistical report does not include detailed information, based on the final data from the previous 11 months, it is worth noting that the significant growth in exports and imports is largely driven by an impressive increase in the trade volume of precious metals and stones. The share of these commodities in foreign trade has jumped from 23% to 52% over the year, despite a decline in the jewelry industry of Armenia. The industrial sector continues to grow, particularly in basic metals, coke and oil refining products, metallurgy, electrical equipment, furniture, and woodworking industry.
It is important to highlight that a significant increase (with a minimal volume) in the production of coke and liquefied petroleum products (22.1 times in 11 months) started to be observed from mid-2024. The production of basic metals also stood out as one of the top three industrial sectors in terms of volume (424.5 billion AMD), maintaining high growth rates (84.7%). In comparison, the food industry, which holds the top position, didn't show a significant lead in terms of volume (576.8 billion AMD) and experienced weak growth (4.2%). According to preliminary statistics, the slowdown in the annual growth of economic activity in January-December 2024 was mainly driven by the trade sector - from 25.7% to 17%, and to a lesser extent by the construction sector - from 14.8% to 14.5%. There was a slight increase in the growth of the services sector - from 10.3% to 10.6% and the industrial sector -from 4.1% to 4.7%. Additionally, the agricultural sector showed improved annual dynamics, transitioning from a 0.3% decline to 1.6% growth. The energy sector recorded an annual growth of 6.5%, although the previous year's dynamics were not included in the statistical report due to a change in the calculation methodology starting from 2023.
In terms of volume for January-December 2024, the trade sector leads with a volume of 6.4 trillion AMD ($16.2 billion). The second highest volume is held by the service sector - 3.5 trillion AMD ($8.8 billion), followed by the industrial sector - 2.99 trillion ($7.6 billion). The agricultural sector ranks fourth with 958.8 billion AMD ($2.4 billion), and the construction sector comes in fifth with 709.5 billion AMD ($1.8 billion). The volume of electricity generation in January-December 2024 totaled 9381.4 million kWh, of which 926.4 million kWh were generated in December alone.
A more significant slowdown in economic activity growth was observed in December 2024 compared to December 2023, dropping from 9.5% to 4.7%. In December alone, there was a reversal from a 1% decline towards 22.7% growth (compared to an acceleration of growth in November 2023 from 0.6% to 19.8%). Moreover, such a slowdown in economic activity growth in December 2024 compared to December 2023 was primarily due to the deterioration of the industrial sector dynamics, shifting from 20% growth to 14.8% decline. There was also a strong slowdown in the growth of the trade sector, decreasing from 35.9% to 10.3%. However, there was a slight acceleration in the growth of the construction sector, increasing from 11.5% to 12.9% and a significant acceleration in the growth of the services sector, rising from 3.4% to 19.4%.
Against this backdrop, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in January-December 2024 reached 11.9 trillion AMD ($30.2 billion), with a slight slowdown in annual growth to 41.5% (from 46% in 2023). This slowdown can be attributed to a similar decrease in the annual growth rates of both imports - from 40.2% to 33.8%, and exports - from 55.3% to 53.1%, the absolute value of which amounted to 6.7 trillion and 5.2 trillion AMD ($17.1 billion and $13.1 billion), respectively. However, a more significant decline in the dynamics of foreign trade turnover was observed in December 2024 compared to December 2023. The growth rate dropped from 72% to a 37.3% decline, primarily due to a reversal in the trend of both exports and imports towards a decline of 48.6% and 26.5%, respectively (compared to a growth of 2.4 times and 33.2% in 2023).
