Key economic indicators

Armenia ranks as the most economically free nation in the CIS
www.heritage.org/index

Armenia was included in a list of countries with a high degree of economic freedom in 2011 occupying 36th place, higher than France, according to the annual survey "Index of Economic Freedom" conducted by the Heritage Foundation / the Wall Street Journal. 

The appraisal of economic freedom is based on 50 economic indicators within the following categories: capital flows and foreign investments; banking and financial systems; monetary, budget and trade polices; salaries and prices; state interference in the economy; property rights and regulations; and black markets.

Armenia was included in a list of countries with a high degree of economic freedom in 2004 occupying 44th place together with France according to the annual survey “Index of Economic Freedom” conducted by the Heritage Foundation /the Wall Street Journal/.

Armenia has a successful record of transition creating a favorable macroeconomic climate based on a market economy. There has been consistent growth since 1994. The country has successfully implemented a comprehensive stabilization and structural reform program. In 1993, the first stock exchange was established and the new currency, the Dram, was introduced.

Index of Economic Freedom, 2002-2011

Country	Rank
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Armenia	45	44	44	42	27	32	28	31	38	36
Azerbaijan	118	104	106	103	123	107	107	99	96	92
Georgia	108	113	91	100	68	35	32	32	26	29
France	45	40	44	44	44	45	48	64	64	64
Germany	20	19	18	18	19	19	23	25	23	23
Hungary	32	44	42	35	40	44	43	44	51	51
Iran	151	146	148	148	156	150	151	168	168	171
Poland	45	66	56	41	41	87	83	82	71	68
Russia	131	135	114	124	122	120	134	146	143	143
Turkey	105	119	106	112	85	83	74	75	67	67
Ukraine	137	131	117	88	99	125	133	152	162	164
USA	4	6	10	12	9	4	5	6	8	9

 

GDP Structure from 2002 to 2009 (%)

Sector / Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Industry	22	22	22	22	18	16	13	13.6
Agriculture	23	22	22	19	18	17.5	15.7	16.2
Construction	14	16	15	22	24.5	26	27.1	18.8
Transport	7	6	6	6	-	-	-	-
Trade	10	10	11	11	18	17.5	17.5	20.7
Other Branches	24	24	24	20	10	10	9.6	13.1

 

Financial and Economic Data	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Real GDP growth (%)	12.9	13.9	10.1	13.9	13.3	13.7	6.8	-14.4
Inflation Rate (%, average)	-1.1	4.7	7.0	0.6	2.9	4.4	9.0	3.4
Total FDI (USD million)	140	178	235.2	276.4	250.7	582.3	1000.9	732.1
Trade Balance (USD million)	-483.8	-481.9	-635.94	-777.2	-483.8	-732.8	-3342.5	-
External Debt (USD million)	1025.1	1693.6	1884.08	1860.1	2010.0	1372.1	1577.1	-
Unemployment Rate (% of labor force)	9.4	10	9.4	9.6	7.5	7.1	6.3	6.9
Exchange Rate (AMD/US$ annual average)	573.3	578.77	533.45	457.69	415.5	304.1	306	363.3

 

Inflation, Currency and Exchange Rate

During recent years the currency exchange rate was stable at low level which contributed to the economic growth. According to the official data by the Central Bank of Armenia, the average currency exchange rate made 5.2% in 2008, 6.5% in 2009. In 2003-dram-dollar relation was stable then the dram devaluated against USD due to the economic widespread changes.

 

Education / Labor Force

The majority of people (56%) are between the ages of 17 and 59 and the level of education is high. Education continues to be one of the main values in Armenian society. Today, there are 18 state universities, 8 foreign managed (American University, French University, European University and 5 Russian universities) and the remainder are private. There are more than 77,000 third-level students.

Exports and Imports of Armenia

Due to stable economic growth and an open trade system, exports have increased considerably since 1999, accompanied by import substitution as a result of an increase in domestic production. Exports increased by 5.1% in 1999 while import growth was negative, at -10.1%. In 2004 exports and imports increased by 4.3% and 5.6 % respectively. In 2005 the growth trend of exports was continued at 34.2%. For the same period, the main export countries were: CIS countries (18.9%); EU (46.6%); Israel (13.6%); and USA (6.5%).

 

Exports and Imports Growth Rate from 2004 to 2009

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Exports	4.3%	31.5%	3.1%	17.5%	-7.2%	-34%
Imports	5.6%	30.9%	21.8%	49.7%	35%	-25.3%

 

Main Export and Import Countries of Armenia 2006-2009

 

2006 Exports	2006 Imports	2007 Exports	2007 Imports
Belgium 11%	Belgium 5,5%	Belgium 9,1%	Belgium 3,5%
Georgia 5%	Germany 6,6%	Georgia 7,5%	Germany 6,8%
Germany 15%	Greece 2,3%	Germany 4,7%	Greece 1,3%
Iran 3%	Iran 5,2%	Iran 3,3%	Iran 4,3%
Netherlands 12,9%	Russia 13,9%	Netherlands 13,5%	Russia 15,3%
Russia 12,3%	UAE 0,9%	Russia 17,4%	UAE 0,6%
Switzerland 7,3%	UK 7,4%	Switzerland 4,3%	UK 7,7%
	USA 6,6%		USA 4,4%

 

 

 

2008 Exports	2008 Imports	2009 Exports	2009 Imports
Russia-19,7%	Russia-19,2%	Germany-16,1%	Russia-23,9%
Germany-17,4%	China-8,6%	Russia-15,1%	China-8,6%
Netherlands-12,4%	Turkey-6,1%	USA-9,4%	Ukraine-6,1%
Belgium-8,5%	Germany-5,8%	Georgia-7,4%	Germany-5,3%
Georgia-7,7%	Italy-3,6%	Netherlands-7,3%	Iran-4,9%
Bulgaria-5,6%	Bulgaria-2,7%	Belgium-6,6%	USA-3,6%
USA-5,0%	Belgium-2,1%	Iran-4,7%	Italy-3,
Iran-2,4%

Main Export and Import countries of Armenia in 2005-2009

Country	Exports					Imports
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
EU	46.6%	48.1%	48.9%	53.9%	44.5%	28.5%	34.0%	34.7%	26.6%	22.3%
CIS	18.9%	21.6%	30.7%	31.8%	19.9%	28.9%	31.8%	33.1%	25.7%	22.7%
USA	6.5%	6.6%	4.4%	4.9%	9.6%	6.3%	4.8%	4.4%	6.8%	5.1%
Other Countries	28%	30%	16%	9.4%	26.0%	36.3%	29.4%	27.8%	40.9%	49.9%

 

Main Export and Import Products of Armenia in 2005-2009

Products	Main Export Products					Main Import Products
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Precious & Semi-Precious Stones	51%	31%	19%	17%	16%	22%	14%	10%	12%	11%
Foodstuffs	11%	10%	13%	16%	15%	8%	8%	8%	9%	8%
Non-Precious Metal	9%	29%	33%	35%	37%	6%	8%	11%	12%	11%
Mineral Products	8%	14%	15%	17%	16%	18%	17%	16%	15%	14%
Sewing Products	6%	4%	3%	4%	5%	4%	3%	20%	21%	18%
Machinery	4%	3%	4%	4%	5%	2%	14%	14%	15%	12%

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