Economy - overview:
Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy. Since the implosion of the USSR in December 1991, Armenia has switched to small-scale agriculture away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. The agricultural sector has long-term needs for more investment and updated technology. The privatization of industry has been at a slower pace, but has been given renewed emphasis by the current administration. Armenia is a food importer, and its mineral deposits (copper, gold, bauxite) are small. The ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the breakup of the centrally directed economic system of the former Soviet Union contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government had launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates in 1995-2003. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. Armenia also has managed to slash inflation, stabilize the local currency (the dram), and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. The chronic energy shortages Armenia suffered in the early and mid-1990s have been offset by the energy supplied by one of its nuclear power plants at Metsamor. Armenia is now a net energy exporter, although it does not have sufficient generating capacity to replace Metsamor, which is under international pressure to close. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid and foreign direct investment. Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $13.65 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 22.9%
industry: 36.1%
services: 41.1% (2004 est.)
Labor force:
1.4 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 45%, industry 25%, services 30% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate:
30% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line:
50% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 46.2% (1999)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
44.4 (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.5% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
19.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $428.1 million
expenditures: $491.2 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products:
fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock
Industries:
diamond-processing, metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, jewelry manufacturing, software development, food processing, brandy
Industrial production growth rate:
15% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
6.492 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption:
5.797 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports:
704 million kWh; note - exports an unknown quantity to Georgia; includes exports to Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan (2002)
Electricity - imports:
463 million kWh; note - imports an unknown quantity from Iran (2002)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
5,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA
Oil - imports:
NA
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
1.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Current account balance:
$-240.4 million (2004 est.)
Exports:
$850 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities:
diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy
Exports - partners:
Belgium 16.8%, Israel 14.3%, Russia 14.2%, Germany 11.4%, Iran 9.9%, US 7.8%, Netherlands 5.8% (2004)
Imports:
$1.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:
natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds
Imports - partners:
Belgium 10.3%, Iran 10.2%, Russia 9.8%, Israel 8.6%, US 7.7%, UAE 6.2%, Italy 5.4%, Germany 5%, France 4.6%, Ukraine 4.5% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$555 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$905 million (June 2001)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA $170 million (2000)
Currency (code):
dram (AMD)
Exchange rates:
drams per US dollar - 533.45 (2004), 578.76 (2003), 573.35 (2002), 555.08 (2001), 539.53 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
