Value of Armenia's foreign trade in 2029 was 10.4% higher than in 2018, EDB says

YEREVAN, July 13. /ARKA/. The value of Armenia's foreign trade in 2019 amounted to $8.2 billion, an increase of 10.4% compared with the previous year, according to the June report “Main Tendencies in Armenia’s Integration Development in 2019' prepared by the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Center for Integration Studies.

According to the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECE), Armenia's exports amounted to $2.6 billion (an increase of 9.4%), and imports - to $5.5 billion (an increase of 10.8%). 

The report says that after a short reduction at the beginning of the year, exports recovered starting from the second quarter due to the resumption of mining at the Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit.

The growth in exports was also supported by an increase in the export of precious metals and food products. Although the cost of exported goods decreased in 2019, the growth was achieved due to an increase in the physical volume of exports against the background of a high level of output in the mining and manufacturing industries.

The growth in imports was backed by an increase in the imports of vehicles and mineral products. However, despite the strong dynamics, imports slowed in 2019 against the background of a high base for comparing the volumes of imports of machinery and equipment.

The overall price level of imported goods in Armenia decreased in 2019 due to a decrease in the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as precious stones. Consequently, the increase in imports was mainly due to an increase in physical volumes.

The foreign trade deficit relative to all countries in 2019 reached 21.0% of GDP, slightly increasing compared to the same period of the previous year (20.6% of GDP).

The foreign trade deficit was  formed primarily outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). At the end of 2019, the negative balance of foreign trade with other than EEU-member countries amounted to 15.4% of GDP (15.7% of GDP a year earlier). 

The growth rate of exports to other than EEU-member countries (9.0% more than in 2018) turned out to be higher compared to the growth rate of imports. This acceleration was due to the restoration of output in the mining industry, as well as some increase in agricultural output.

At the same time, mining and metallurgical products (copper ores and concentrates mainly supplied to the European Union, China and Switzerland) dominated in the commodity structure of exports to other countries with a share of 52.5%. Food products accounted for 19.3% - mainly tobacco products supplied to Arab countries.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth, and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. The EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. -0-