Armenian premier on forecast of GDP growth in 2026

ArmInfo.  By the end of 2026, Armenia's GDP growth will be at least 6%, compared to the 5.1% budgeted for by the state budget. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made  this forecast on December 25 at a regular government meeting, noting  that since the "non-violent, velvet people's revolution of 2018,"  Armenia's gross domestic product has grown by approximately 50%, with  "we're talking about real economic growth."

He recalled that Armenia's economic activity index in  January-November was 8.3%. "Before the publication of the November  data, we already had some confidence that economic growth would be at  least 6%," Nikol Pashinyan noted. The Prime Minister also noted that  in November 2025, a new historical record was set for the number of  registered jobs in Armenia - 814,818. According to him, this is  275,465 more, or approximately 50% more than in November 2017. "I  compare this to November 2017 because it was the first November  before the revolution," the Prime Minister noted. The number of jobs  also increased by 31,986, or approximately 4%, compared to November  2024.

As for the average salary, in 2025 it reached 327,155 drams. This is  158,421 drams, or approximately 93% more than in November 2017.

Moreover, according to the Statistical Committee, annual inflation  was 3.3%, he emphasized, meaning that wage growth exceeded the rate  of inflation.

Economic activity in Armenia began to accelerate in the lead-up to  the New Year holidays, reaching 8.3% for the first 11 months of 2025  (from 7.4% in the same period a year ago). Meanwhile, foreign trade  continued to decline at a double-digit rate, compared to significant  growth a year earlier. According to preliminary data from the RA  Statistics Committee, the industrial sector, which was one of the  drivers of economic growth a year ago, is now stagnating. According  to statistics, this economic activity in January- November 2025 was  largely due to a significant increase in the construction sector,  from 14.9% to 20.1%, and an acceleration in annual growth in the  services sector, from 6.3% to 10.9%. A slowdown in annual growth was  observed in the energy complex - from 5.9% to 2.8%, and in the trade  sector - from 18% to 3%.  The annual dynamics of the industrial  sector deteriorated much more noticeably, with growth slowing from  7.6% to a stagnant 0.5%. The statistical report for this period does  not include data on the agricultural sector. According to statistical  data for January-November 2025, the trade sector holds the lead in  absolute value with a volume of 5.97 trillion drams ($15.4 billion).  The second place in terms of volume is occupied by the service sector  - 3.7 trillion drams ($9.5 billion), the third place is the  industrial sector - 2.8 trillion drams ($7.3 billion), and the fourth  place, due to the lack of data on the agricultural sector, is  occupied by the construction sector - 644.6 billion drams ($1.7  billion). Electricity generation in January-November 2025 amounted to  8,225.3 million kWh, of which 783.2 million kWh was generated in  November alone.