Short facts about the economy in Armenia

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 (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 program that has resulted in positive growth rates in 1995-2000. Armenia also managed to slash inflation and to privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. The chronic energy shortages Armenia suffered in recent years have been largely offset by the energy supplied by one of its nuclear power plants at Metsamor. Armenia's severe trade imbalance, importing three times its exports, has been offset somewhat by international aid, domestic restructuring of the economy, and foreign direct investment.

GDP:	purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:

purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture:  40% industry:  25% services:  35% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line:

45% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%:  NA% highest 10%:  NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

1% (1999 est.)

Labor force:

1.5 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 55%, services 25%, industry 20% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:

20% (1998 est.) note:  official rate is 9.3% for 1998

Budget:

revenues:  $360 million expenditures:  $566 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Industries:

metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, gem cutting, jewelry manufacturing, software development, brandy

Industrial production growth rate:

5% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:

6.668 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel:  45.56% hydro:  23.25% nuclear:  31.19% other:  0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:

6.201 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:

fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock

Exports:

$284 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:

diamonds, scrap metal, machinery and equipment, brandy, copper ore

Exports - partners:

Belgium 36%, Iran 15%, Russia 14%, US 7%, Turkmenistan, Georgia (1999)

Imports:

$913 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:

natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds

Imports - partners:

Russia 17%, US 11%, Belgium 11%, Iran 10%, UK, Turkey (1999)

Debt - external:

$836 million (January 2001)

Economic aid - recipient:

$245.5 million (1995)

Currency:

dram (AMD)

Currency code:

AMD

Exchange rates:

drams per US dollar - 554.29 (1 February 2001), 539.53 (2000), 535.06 (1999), 504.92 (1998), 490.85 (1997), 414.04 (1996)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Source: World Factbook