Size of Armenia's 'shadow' economy estimated to be equal to 20% of GDP - head of SRC

YEREVAN, May 22. /ARKA/. The size of Armenia's 'shadow' economy is estimated currently to be equal to 20% of the country's gross domestic product, the chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) Eduard Hakobyan revealed today.

“There are different estimates of the “shadow” economy. For example, 5-7 years ago it was as high as 35-40%. The Statistical Committee last estimated the size of the “shadow” at 22% in 2022. Now, according to different experts' estimates, it is about 20%,” Hakobyan said at a press conference.

According to him, the tax gap, i.e. the difference between the taxes collected and those that could have been collected, is important.

“Currently, the SRC and the Ministry of Finance estimate the indicator of “shadow” revenues at 200-300 billion drams. A few years ago these figures were 2-3 times higher,” Hakobyan said, adding that it is extremely difficult to calculate the volumes of ‘shadow’ in agriculture and jewelry industry.

According to the SRC data, in January-April 2025 a “shadow” turnover of 84 billion drams was revealed, the growth compared to the same period of 2024 amounted to 146%. At the same time, tax revenues for January-April increased by 14.5% or 120 billion drams compared to the same period last year. ($1 - 384.44 drams).-0-