Notable growth in economic activity recorded in Armenia in 2024 - Ministry of Economy

YEREVAN, March 6. /ARKA/. In January-December 2024, Armenia recorded a significant increase in economic activity compared to the same period in 2023, according to the report of the Armenian Ministry of Economy titled "Socio-Economic Situation of the Republic of Armenia / January - December 2024" (Armenia: Economic Outlook / January-December 2024).

According to the National Statistical Committee, economic activity in Armenia for January-December 2024 grew by 8%. For the same period in 2023, the figure was 9.4%.

Lilit Shaboyan, spokesperson for the Armenian Minister of Economy, in response to a question from ARKA News Agency about the basis for the report's statement about a significant increase in economic activity, noted that the 8% figure is a comparison of January-December 2024 with January-December 2023. 

“Significant growth is a January-December 2024 comparison with 2023. No comparison is made with the growth trends of economic activity indicators of previous years. What we have published is a comparison of the reporting year with the previous year.  If you mean that in 2023 compared to 2022 (economic activity rate - ed.) was 9.4% - we didn't touch on that. We only present this analysis every year compared to the previous year. [...] There is no trend analysis. We did not have the task of comparing the trends of previous years,” she said, adding that the 8% figure does show significant growth.

The Ministry of Economy's current study notes that industrial production in January-December 2024 increased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year. The manufacturing industry, which grew by 6.5%, had a positive impact on industrial growth. However, the mining industry had a negative effect on industrial growth, showing a decline of 8.6%.

Domestic trade turnover in January-December 2024 grew by 17.0% compared to the same period in the previous year, while the volume of automobile trade decreased by 4.3%.

Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries saw a growth of 1.9% in January-December 2024, with agriculture itself growing by 1.6%. Positive factors contributing to agricultural growth include crop production (0.9%), livestock (2.2%), fisheries (4.3%), and forestry (53.2%).

The volume of construction work in January-December 2024 grew by 14.5% compared to the previous year. The primary financial sources contributing to the growth in construction volumes were funds from the population (a 33.8% increase) and the state budget (a 14.8% increase).

The volume of services grew by 10.6% in January-December 2024 compared to the same period last year. Growth was observed in all sectors except for transport, which saw a decline of 11.9%.

According to Armstat, Armenia's GDP in 2024 grew by 5.9% compared to 2023. The government’s 2024 budget had initially projected an economic growth rate of 7%.

As stated earlier by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the key goal of a 7% average GDP growth, set in the government's program for 2021-2026, remains intact, reaching 8.15% in the 2021-2024 period. He also noted that in 2023, Armenia’s economy grew by 8.3%, in 2022 by 12.6%, and in 2021 by 5.8%.