ArmInfo. In 2024, the volume of private transfers inflow to Armenia exceeded $5.8 billion (including $1.01 billion of non-commercial nature). The outflow, on the other hand, was $4.3 billion (including $440 million of non-commercial nature). In terms of annual dynamics, the inflow increased by 2.5%, while the outflow increased by 7.1%. As a result, the net inflow of transfers to the country in 2024 decreased by 9% - to $1.5 billion. Specifically, for non-commercial transfers, the decline in net inflow was more significant, dropping by 35% to $573.5 million. The share of the latter in the total net inflow decreased over the year from 53% to 38%. This is evidenced by data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.
Russia has maintained its position as a leader in the inflow of private money transfers to Armenia, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), took the lead in outflow. Transfers from the Russian Federation decreased by 3.2% over the year to $3.8 billion, with outflow also seeing a slight growth 7.3% to $688.4 million. In contrast, transfers to and from the UAE saw significant increases of 56% and 54%, reaching $116 million and $880.3 million, respectively. Despite a 5.2% decline, the net inflow from Russia remained positive level at $3.1 billion, while the net inflow from the UAE remained increased to $764.3 million, a 54% rise. The share of non-commercial transactions in both inflow and outflow to Russia and the UAE is relatively low, ranging from 11% and 22%. Following Russia in terms of inflow, the TOP-5 are the USA, Switzerland, the Isle of Man and the UAE, while following the UAE in terms of outflow are the Russian Federation, the USA, Switzerland and Monaco.
The annual transfer dynamics to Hong Kong appear much more noteworthy - a 4.2-fold jump in inflow is accompanied by a 30% decline in outflow, the volumes of which amounted to $38.3 million and $30.8 million, respectively. This shift has improved the dynamics of the net inflow of transfers from Hong Kong to Armenia over the year from a negative $34.9 million to a positive $7.5 million, a 2.2 times increase over the year. Moreover, the share of non-commercial transactions in the inflow from Hong Kong is low - 2% (annual decline in volume by 24%), and even lower in the outflow - 4% (annual growth in volume by 67%). According to experts, these transaction trend in the direction of Hong Kong and the UAE can be explained by "gray deals" involving gold and diamonds, as these countries are the main re-exporters of precious metals and stones.
In particular, experts refer to customs data, showing that the majority of diamonds and gold imported from Russia are then exported to the UAE and Hong Kong. Thus, in the first half of 2024, the lion's share of the total volume of diamond and gold imports came from Russia - 77% and 99.7%, respectively, and the primary destinations for these precious metals and stones were the markets of the UAE (77% diamonds and 64% gold) and Hong Kong (17% diamonds and 25% gold). A similar trend was observed at the end of 2023, but then 46.7% of diamonds and 99.2% of gold came from Russia, which were also exported to the UAE (84.6% of diamonds and 71.4% of gold) and Hong Kong (2.7% of diamonds and 25.4% of gold).
An increase in transfers is recorded in the direction of the USA, both in inflow and outflow - by 4% and 26% - to $ 690.6 million and $ 584.9 million, respectively. This kept the net inflow in this direction at a positive $ 105.7 million, despite a 47% decline. Moreover, almost 48% of the inflow from the USA are non-commercial transactions, a share not observed in any of the countries under consideration. In the direction of Switzerland, there was an 11% decline in inflow to $125.5 million, accompanied by a 93% increase in outflow to $456.1 million. This resulted in the negative net inflow increasing by 3.5 times to $330.6 million.
In the direction of the offshore Isle of Man, there was a significant increase in inflow, growing 6 times to $116.5 million, while outflow decreased by 71% to only $18 thousand, which increased the positive net inflow by 6 times to $116.5 million. In the offshore zone of Monaco, both inflow and outflow decrease was recorded - by 43% and 61% to $17.9 million and $160 million, respectively, which reduced the negative net inflow by 62% to $142.1 million.
It should be noted that in 2023, the total inflow of transfers from all countries amounted to $5.7 billion, with an outflow of $4 billion, resulting in a net inflow of $1.7 billion. There was a significant slowdown in growth in both the inflow - from 2.5 times to 9.7%, and in the outflow - from 2.1 times to 55%. This decline worsened the dynamics of the net inflow from an unprecedented growth of 3 times to a 36% decline. Russia's share in the inflow remained at 69%, while decreasing in the outflow to 16%. The United States saw a decrease in both the inflow and outflow, with a share of 12% in each.
