Armenia`s economic activity is losing momentum, with foreign trade  also sagging

ArmInfo. In January-March 2025, economic activity growth slowed significantly to 4.1% per annum (from  14.3% in the same period of 2024) in Armenia.  Moreover, the industrial sector, which was the main driver of growth a year earlier, is now experiencing a double-digit decline. According to preliminary data from the RA Statistics Committee, this decline was accompanied by a deterioration in the foreign trade trend, shifting  from several-fold growth to a significant decline. 

According to statistics, the slowdown in economic activity growth in  January-March 2025 was largely due to the deterioration in the annual  dynamics of the industrial sector, which went from 30.4% growth to  18.5% decline and a marked slowdown in the growth of the trade  sector, which decreased from 26.5% to 6%. However,, the service  sector managed to accelerate in annual growth from 5% to 11.5%, a  trend also noted in the agricultural sector, which increased from  3.7% to 10.5% and in the construction sector - from 11.7% to 13.6%.  Additionally, the energy complex saw an improvement in annual  dynamics, shifting from a 1.4% decline to 3.8% growth. In terms of  volume, the trade sector leads with a total of 1.3 trillion drams  ($3.4 billion). Following closely behind is the service sector -  865.3 billion drams ($2.2 billion), the industrial sector - 599.8  billion drams ($1.5 billion), the  agricultural sector - 97.5 billion  drams ($246.5 million), and the  construction sector - 77.6 billion  drams ($196.2 million). 

The volume of power generated in January-March 2025 was 2475.0  million kWh, with  771.4 million kWh generated in March alone. In  March 2025,  economic activity slowed to a growth rate of 3.7%  (compared to 15.3% the previous year). However,  in March alone,  growth accelerated from 5.8% to 11.9% (compared to a slowdown in  growth in March 2024 from 11.3% to 10.4%). Inn March 2025, the   industrial sector saw an improvement in dynamics, shifting from a  0.9% decline to a double-digit 15.9% growth. This is a sharp contrast  to the previous year, where growth stalled sharply from 18.9% to a  stagnant 0.2%. In March,  the services sector also saw a positive  growth, moving from a 1.3% decline to an 11.5% growth. Conversely,  there was a slight slowdown in growth in the construction sector -  from 36.8% to 31.9%, and a minimal acceleration of growth in the  trade sector - from 16.6% to 16.9%. And only the energy complex  remained in decline with an acceleration in growth rates in March  from 6.3% to 6.4%. In annual terms (March 2025 to March 2024), all  sectors demonstrated an upward trend, except for the industrial  sector (16.9%) and the energy complex (2.2%), which experienced  declines. 

The  construction sector and the service sector showed the highest  annual growth rates- 15.5% and 10.1%, respectively, followed by the  trade sector- 3.2%. In March 2024 compared to March 2023, all sectors  experienced growth: the industrial sector - by 33.5%, the trade  sector - by 30.4%, the construction sector - by 13.1%, the services  sector - by 4.7%,  and the energy complex - by 6.5%. Armenia's  foreign trade turnover in January-March 2025 amounted to 1.8 trillion  drams ($4.5 billion), down 54.2% per annum (compared to a 2.1-fold  increase the previous year). This decline is attributed to a  significant drop in exports and imports - down by 61.8% and 47.9% per  annum, respectively. In contrast, the previous year saw significant  growth in both  - 2.7 times (exports) and 75.8% (imports). As a  result, the absolute value of exports for January-March 2025 amounted  to 672 billion drams ($1.7 billion), and imports - 1.1 trillion drams  ($2.8 billion).  In March 2025, compared to March 2024, foreign trade  turnover decreased by 31.8% due to a drop in both exports by 65.4%  and imports by 51.2%, while  in March 2024, compared to March 2023,  foreign trade turnover increased significantly by 2.1 times driven by  a threshold increase in  exports and a 56.2% increase in imports.

It should be noted that since 2023, there has been a change in the  methodology for calculating the volumes of generated power in  statistical reports. This includes accounting for the volumes of  power generated by autonomous producers. Data for the agricultural  sector is only published in quarterly and annual statistical reports.  (The average calculated exchange rate of the dram in January-March  2025 was AMD 395.42 /$1).