In Armenia, industrial sector declining while industrial price index  rising

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the industrial price index increased in January-February 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, rising from 100.8% to 102.2%. This increase  occurred amidst a worsening  annual trend in the industrial sector,  which shifted from a 28.9% growth to a 19.4% decline, with a total  volume of 380.5 billion drams ($959 million), as evidenced by  preliminary data from the RA Statistical Committee. 

According to statistics, in February 2025, the industrial price index   increased from 99.4% to 101.6% compared to February 2024, During this  period, the industrial sector experienced a more significant decline  in volumes by 26.6%, whereas a year ago there was a notable increase  of 36.4%. It is important to note that inflation was observed in the  consumer market of Armenia during the periods under review.  Particularly, in January-February 2025, inflation was 2.1%  compared  to the same period in 2024, and in February 2025 compared to February  2024, inflation was 2.5%.  This is in contrast to the deflation of  1.3% and 1.7%, respectively, recorded in the same periods a year ago.  Moreover, inflation in the consumer market was primarily driven by an  increase in food prices. In January-February 2025, food prices  increased by 3.6%, compared to the same period in 2024, and in  February 2025 compared to February 2024, food prices increased by  4.6%. A year earlier, there was  a decline in food prices during the  same periods - by 5.2% and 5.9%, respectively.

 It is worth noting that there has been a slowdown in the growth of  economic activity in Armenia in January-February 2025, decreasing  from 13.6% to 4.1% per annum. In February 2025 compared to February  2024 there was a decrease from 16.3% to 1.5%. Additionally, there has  been a deterioration in the annual dynamics of foreign trade turnover  in January-February 2025, with a decline of 52% compared to a 2-fold  growth in the same period of 2024. This decline is a result of  both  exports decreasing by 59.7%, and imports - by 45.8% (compared to a  significant growth in both exports and imports a year ago by 2.6  times and 73.2%, respectively). In February 2025, compared to  February 2024, the volume of foreign trade fell by 61% due to a  decrease in both exports by 67.7% and imports by 55.2%. In February  2024, compared to February 2023, foreign trade turnover showed a  significant increase of 2.2 times due to a jump in exports by 2.9  times and imports by 79.9%. (The average exchange rate of the dram in  January-February 2025 was AMD 396.74/$1).