title
stringlengths 1
251
| section
stringlengths 0
6.12k
| text
stringlengths 0
716k
|
|---|---|---|
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Personnel medals and awards | Personnel medals and awards
Medal "For Bravery"
Medal "For Fatherland"
Medal "For Faultless Service"
Medal "For blameless service"
Medal "For distinction in military service"
Medal "For distinction in the border"
Medal "For merit in military collaboration"
Medal "For military merit"
Veteran of the Armed Forces Medal
Brave Warrior Medal
For Distinction in Battle Medal
For Heroism Medal
For military services medal
Herbi Xidmlete Gore Medal
Anniversary medals
"10th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan (1991–2001)" Medal
"90th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan (1918–2008)" Medal
"95th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan (1918–2013)" Medal
Azerbaijani Army 100th anniversary medal
Battle/war awards
Hero of the Patriotic War
Hero of the Patriotic War Medal
Participant of the Patriotic War Medal
For Services in the Rear in the Patriotic War Medal
For the Liberation of Aghdam Medal
For the Liberation of Fuzuli Medal
For the Liberation of Gubadly Medal
For the Liberation of Jabrayil Medal
For the Liberation of Kalbajar Medal
For the Liberation of Khojavend Medal
For the Liberation of Lachin Medal
For the Liberation of Shusha Medal
For the Liberation of Sugovushan Medal
For the Liberation of Zangilan Medal
Today 'National Hero of Azerbaijan' is the highest national title in the country, awarded for outstanding services of national importance to Azerbaijan in defense, as well as other deeds in other spheres. |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Traditions and military institutions | Traditions and military institutions |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Military oath | Military oath
The military oath () is taken by conscripts as a legal basis of the beginning of their military service. The oath is administered by the commanding officer of the unit. The following is the text for the current version of the oath: |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Battle flags and pennants | Battle flags and pennants
A battle flag for a military unit is a symbol of honor which remains forever in the unit unless it is dissolved. By military law, if the battle flag is lost in battle, the commander of the military unit and the servicemen under its command are brought to court, and the unit is abolished. Battle flags have the color of the State Flag, with the slogan "For Azerbaijan" being embroidered with golden silk on a blue stripe along the upper edge of the fabric. Outside the battle flag, the Azerbaijani military also utilizes the Turkish military tradition of pennants as symbols. |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Military holidays | Military holidays
These are the military holidays observed by all service personnel of the Armed Forces:
14 February – Air Force Day
9 May – Victory Day (Great Patriotic War)
26 June – Day of the Armed Forces
5 August – Day of the Azerbaijani Navy
27 September – Memorial Day
18 October – Day of the First Military Unit
8 November – Victory Day |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Azerbaijan Military History Museum | Azerbaijan Military History Museum
Azerbaijan Military History Museum is a structure under the Ministry of Defense. It was established on 10 December 1992 by the order of the Minister of Defense and in accordance with a decree signed on 29 October 1992 "On the transfer of the Museum of Combat Glory of the VI Army Garrison of the Commonwealth of Independent States". Today, the museum displays 5 tanks, 9 armored personnel carriers, 16 artillery pieces, 6 aircraft, 4 helicopters, 6 different military equipment of the Air Force. Currently, the number of exhibits totals 11,000.thumb|President Ilham Aliyev at the new building of the Organization of Veterans of War, Labor and Armed Forces |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Republican Veterans Organization | Republican Veterans Organization
After the Second World War, veterans movements were launched in Azerbaijan, with the Baku Veterans Committee being established on 10 June 1960. The activity of the committee was limited to Baku until the early 1970s. During the leadership of First Secretary Heydar Aliyev, there was a revival in the veteran movement, during which the committee gradually expanded to the republic. The establishment of the Republican Veterans Organization took place on 21 March 1987. Despite the official registration of the RVO with the Ministry of Justice, the activity of the organization was largely formal due to the tensions in the country with the Karabakh War, as well as the attitude of the government towards Red Army veterans in general. One of the first laws signed by the President Aliyev was the Law "On Veterans" (28 June 1994), which restored the mandate for the RVO. |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | See also | See also
Judiciary of Azerbaijan
Special Purpose Police Unit |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | References | References
(Official Website of Azerbaijan)
Chernyavsky, Azerbaijan's new path, 2002, 132, 352.
G. E. Curtiss (ed.), Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia Country Studies, Washington, DC: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1995.
|
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Further reading | Further reading
U.S. Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership, Transformation of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, October 2008 |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | External links | External links
Official YouTube Channel of Azerbaijani Soldier program
Category:1918 establishments in Azerbaijan |
Azerbaijani Armed Forces | Table of Content | Short description, Overview, History of the Azerbaijani armed forces, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Russian Civil War, World War II, Dissolution of the Soviet armed forces, Newly formed military, 21st century, Second Karabakh War, Structure, Command, Land Forces, Air forces, Navy, Special forces, Defense industry, International cooperation, Turkey, United States, Russia, Israel, NATO, Personnel, Educational system, Conscription, Military Justice, Women and ethnic minorities in the armed forces, Personnel medals and awards, Traditions and military institutions, Military oath, Battle flags and pennants, Military holidays, Azerbaijan Military History Museum, Republican Veterans Organization, See also, References, Further reading, External links |
Geography of Armenia | Short description | thumb|300px|Armenia map of Köppen climate classification zones
thumb|300px|Satellite image of Armenia
Armenia is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of the Caucasus. The country is geographically located in West Asia, within the Armenian plateau.The UN classification of world regions places Armenia in West Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and Oxford Reference Online also place Armenia in Asia.Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, pp. 1–17 Armenia is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran, Azerbaijan's exclave Nakhchivan, and Turkey.
The terrain is mostly mountainous, with fast flowing rivers and few forests. The climate is highland continental: hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to above sea-level at Mount Aragats. |
Geography of Armenia | Physical environment | Physical environment
thumb|right|350px|Detailed map of Armenia
Armenia is located in the southern Caucasus, the region southwest of Russia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Modern Armenia occupies part of historical Armenia, whose ancient centers were in the valley of the Araks River and the region around Lake Van in Turkey. Armenia is bordered on the north by Georgia, on the east by Azerbaijan, on the south by Iran, and on the west by Turkey.
In Armenia forest cover is around 12% of the total land area, equivalent to 328,470 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 334,730 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 310,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 18,470 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 5% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 0% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership. |
Geography of Armenia | Topography and drainage | Topography and drainage
thumb|left|Topography of Armenia
Twenty-five million years ago, a geological upheaval pushed up the Earth's crust to form the Armenian Plateau, creating the complex topography of modern Armenia. The Lesser Caucasus range extends through northern Armenia, runs southeast between Lake Sevan and Azerbaijan, then passes roughly along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to Iran. Thus situated, the mountains make travel from north to south difficult. Geological turmoil continues in the form of devastating earthquakes, which have plagued Armenia. In December 1988, the second largest city in the republic, Leninakan (now Gyumri), was heavily damaged by a massive quake that killed more than 25,000 people.
About half of Armenia's area of approximately has an elevation of at least , and only 3% of the country lies below . The lowest points are in the valleys of the Araks River and the Debed River in the far north, which have elevations of , respectively. Elevations in the Lesser Caucasus vary between . To the southwest of the range is the Armenian Plateau, which slopes southwestward toward the Araks River on the Turkish border. The plateau is masked by intermediate mountain ranges and extinct volcanoes. The largest of these, Mount Aragats, high, is also the highest point in Armenia. Most of the population lives in the western and northwestern parts of the country, where the two major cities, Yerevan and Gyumri, are located.
The valleys of the Debed and Akstafa rivers form the chief routes into Armenia from the north as they pass through the mountains. Lake Sevan, across at its widest point and long, is by far the largest lake. It lies above sea level on the plateau and is large. Other main lakes are: Arpi, , Sev, , Akna .
thumb|right|400px|Biogeographic regions of Europe
Terrain is most rugged in the extreme southeast, which is drained by the Bargushat River, and most moderate in the Araks River valley to the extreme southwest. Most of Armenia is drained by the Araks or its tributary, the Hrazdan, which flows from Lake Sevan. The Araks forms most of Armenia's border with Turkey and Iran, while the Zangezur Mountains form the border between Armenia's southern province of Syunik and Azerbaijan's adjacent Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
thumb|left|200px|Armenian terrain |
Geography of Armenia | Climate | Climate
Temperatures in Armenia generally depend upon elevation. Mountain formations block the moderating climatic influences of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, creating wide seasonal variations with cold snowy winters, and warm to hot summers. On the Armenian Plateau, the mean midwinter temperature is to , and the mean midsummer temperature is to . Average precipitation ranges from per year in the lower Araks River valley to at the highest altitudes. Despite the harshness of winter in most parts (with frosts reaching and lower in Shirak region), the fertility of the plateau's volcanic soil made Armenia one of the world's earliest sites of agricultural activity. |
Geography of Armenia | Area and boundaries | Area and boundaries
Area:total: 29,743 km2
country comparison to the world: 143
land: 28,203 km2water: 1,540 km2
Area comparative
Australia comparative: about one third (33%) the size of Tasmania
Canada comparative: greater than half (56%) the size of Nova Scotia
Turkey comparative: about a quarter (24%) smaller than the size of Konya Province.
United Kingdom comparative: about one third larger (30%) than Wales
United States comparative: slightly smaller (7%) than Maryland
EU comparative: slightly smaller (8%) than Belgium
Land boundaries:total: 1,570 kmborder countries:
Azerbaijan 566 km, Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 219 km, Iran 44 km, Turkey 311 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Elevation extremes:lowest point: 375mhighest point: Mount Aragats 4,090 m
Extreme points of Armenia:North:
Tavush ()South:
Syunik ()West:
Shirak ()East:
Syunik () |
Geography of Armenia | Resources and land use | Resources and land use
Natural resources:
deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite
Armenia has significant deposits of copper, molybdenum and gold, as well as smaller deposits of zinc, lead and silver. Some copper-molybdenum and polymetallic ore deposits are rich in elements such as bismuth, tellurium, selenium, gallium, indium, thallium, rhenium and germanium.
Land use:
arable land:4.456 km², 15.8%permanent crops: 1.9%permanent pastures: 4.2%forest (2018): 11.2%other: 31.2% (2011)
Irrigated land: 2.084 km2 (2018)
Total renewable water resources:
7.77 m3 (2011) Armenia is considered to be a big water “supplier” in the Caspian basin; as a result, the country lacks water, especially in summer when the rate of evaporation exceeds the amount of precipitation. That is the main reason why since ancient times inhabitants have built water reservoirs and irrigation canals in the area. Lake Sevan contains the largest amount of water in the country.
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):total: 2.86 km3/yr (40%/6%/54%)per capita: 929.7 m3/yr (2010) |
Geography of Armenia | See also | See also
Atlas of Armenia
Biogeographic regions of Europe
Geography of Asia
Geography of Europe
Geology of Armenia |
Geography of Armenia | References | References |
Geography of Armenia | Further reading | Further reading
|
Geography of Armenia | Table of Content | Short description, Physical environment, Topography and drainage, Climate, Area and boundaries, Resources and land use, See also, References, Further reading |
Demographics of Armenia | Short description | After registering steady increases during the Soviet period, the population of Armenia declined from its peak value of 3.633 million in 1992 to 3.075 million in 2025.
Whilst the country's population increased steadily during the Soviet Union as a result of periods of repatriation and low emigration rates, it has declined in recent times due to the exodus of peoples following the Soviet break-up. The rates of emigration and population decline, however, have decreased in recent years, and there has been a moderate influx of Armenians returning to Armenia. |
Demographics of Armenia | Historical statistics | Historical statistics
Citing Armenia's conquest and occupation by the Seljuks (11th century) and Mongols (13th–15th centuries), historians Edmund Herzig and Marina Kurkchiyan write "the combination of progressive Turkish (and Kurdish) immigration and Armenian decline, through massacre, famine and emigration, changed the demographic balance in a way that Arab immigration had never done".
As a result of "deliberate relocation policies employed by both the Ottomans and Safavids" during the Ottoman–Safavid War, there was a large-scale displacement of Armenians; Armenians also emigrated "to escape the insecurity and hardship of life in war-torn Armenia". Whilst Shah Abbas I relocated Armenians to Isfahan and "Armenian colonies in other parts of Iran" in 1604–1605, "the Ottomans also removed Armenian artisans to their capital".
Following the Russian annexation, 45,000 Armenians from Persia and 100,000 from the Ottoman Empire migrated to Eastern Armenia, with another 25,000 migrating following the 1878 Russo-Turkish war. As a result of the repatriation, Armenians had regained a majority in their homeland "for the first time in several hundred years". As a result of persecution and massacres in the Ottoman Empire, some 100,000 Armenians immigrated to Eastern Armenia between 1870 and 1910. The areas with Armenian-majorities would later "form the nucleus in the twentieth century of an independent Armenian state".
Historian Sen Hovhannisian writes that during the 80 years of peace during which Eastern Armenia was part of Russia, there was "unprecedented" population growth: it tripled from 161,700 to 496,100 between 1831 and 1873, and doubled in the following forty years until it reached 1,000,100 in 1913. The population between 1831 and 1913 increased 6.18 times, yielding an average annual growth rate of 10,200 people. Following the outbreak of World War I, the population, which was 1,014,300 in 1914, fell by 20,500 in 1916 due to the Christian population being drafted. As a result of "wars and civil clashes, hunger and diseases" of 1918–1920, 432,000 people (35.8 percent of the population) were "exterminated".
Upon its sovietisation, the territory of modern-day Armenia had a population of some 720,000, a decline of nearly 30 percent—"almost half" consisted of refugees. American historian Richard Pipes states that "according to Soviet estimates, the Armenian population of Transcaucasia declined between 1914 and 1920 by one half million: 200,000 in consequence of Turkish, and, presumably, Communist, massacres, and 300,000 from other causes, mostly famine and disease".
The drastic decline of the population was addressed by the Soviet Armenian government by repatriating displaced Azerbaijanis to districts where they had formed a significant population in Armenia. The Azerbaijani population of Armenia which numbered some 10,000 in 1920 (attributed to the ARF government's expulsion of at least 200,000 Turks and Kurds) rose to 72,596 in 1922 as a result of the return of 60,000 refugees. In addition to this, the Soviet government welcomed 44,000 Armenian refugees from Greece, Iraq, Turkey, and elsewhere throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In 1946–1948, 86,000 Armenians were repatriated to Soviet Armenia to offset the country's wartime losses. At the same time, by agreement of Armenian and Azerbaijani Soviet leaderships, tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis in Armenia were resettled to Azerbaijan to make room for the repatriates.
thumb|262px|Population growth rates in Armenia in years 1980–2016. Data from World Bank.|alt= |
Demographics of Armenia | Population size and structure | Population size and structure
According to the 2018 HDI statistical update (with data for 2017), compared to all its neighbouring countries Armenia has:
the lowest coefficient of human inequality,
the lowest gender inequality (ranked 55th on Gender Inequality Index),
highest percentage of men and highest percentage of women with at least some secondary education,
highest share of seats in parliament held by women,
highest share of women who reported to feel safe,
highest GDP growth rate.
Since 1990, Armenia recorded steady growth of average annual HDI scores in every reported period (1990–2000, 2000–2010, 2010–2017).
According to the 2016 Sustainable Society Index, Armenia has a higher rank of Human Wellbeing than all its neighbours. At the same time its Economic Wellbeing rank is below neighbouring countries.
The 2011 census counted 539,394 persons (19.4 percent of the population above 6 years of age) with higher professional education. |
Demographics of Armenia | Structure of the population | Structure of the population
The median age in 2020 was 36.6 years (male: 35.1, female: 38.3).
36.3 percent of women who gave birth in 2016 had higher education.thumb|450x450px|Pyramid Armenia 2012 http://www.armstat.am|alt=
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 12.10.2011):
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1,398,052 1,620,802 3,018,854 100 0–4 105 565 102 007 207 572 6.88 5–9 91 429 88 500 179 929 5.96 10–14 90 458 88 179 178 637 5.92 15–19 107 938 125 137 233 075 7.72 20–24 133 897 158 337 292 234 9.68 25–29 122 109 149 820 271 929 9.01 30–34 103 114 119 891 223 005 7.39 35–39 89 073 98 348 187 421 6.21 40–44 82 502 94 462 176 964 5.86 45–49 98 064 112 996 211 060 6.99 50–54 109 294 125 238 234 532 7.77 55–59 80 989 96 769 177 758 5.89 60–64 56 189 71 410 127 599 4.23 65–69 28 020 37 353 65 373 2.17 70–74 44 041 63 637 107 678 3.57 75–79 30 734 44 643 75 377 2.50 80–84 18 662 30 244 48 906 1.62 85+ 5 974 13 831 19 805 0.66Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% 0–14 287 452 278 686 566 138 18.75 15–64 983 169 1 152 408 2 135 577 70.74 65+ 127 431 189 708 317 139 10.51
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2019):h
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 1 399 368 1 563 114 2 962 482 100 0–4 102 588 92 078 194 666 6.57 5–9 111 879 98 348 210 227 7.10 10–14 103 991 90 955 194 946 6.58 15–19 88 582 77 838 166 420 5.62 20–24 90 776 88 311 179 087 6.05 25–29 115 826 127 910 243 736 8.23 30–34 124 127 138 753 262 880 8.87 35–39 111 345 123 527 234 872 7.93 40–44 87 619 100 891 188 510 6.36 45–49 74 528 90 316 164 844 5.56 50–54 73 562 93 943 167 505 5.65 55–59 91 952 116 734 208 686 7.04 60–64 81 199 105 827 187 026 6.31 65–69 55 578 76 627 132 205 4.46 70–74 29 945 46 812 76 757 2.59 75–79 23 192 37 510 60 702 2.05 80–84 21 287 37 958 59 245 2.00 85+ 11 392 18 776 30 168 1.02Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 318 458 281 381 599 839 20.25 15–64 939 516 1 064 050 2 003 566 67.63 65+ 141 394 217 683 359 077 12.12
|-
|}
In 2016, households with up to four members prevailed in urban areas throughout Armenia, with the share of such households coming to 70.2 percent in urban communities compared to 60.1 percent in rural communities. |
Demographics of Armenia | Vital statistics | Vital statistics |
Demographics of Armenia | Life expectancy | Life expectancy
thumb|262px|Life expectancy in Armenia since 1950
thumb|262px|Life expectancy in Armenia since 1960 by gender
According to the 2018 HDI statistical update, compared to all its neighbouring countries Armenia has the highest health expenditures as percentage of its GDP and the highest healthy life expectancy at birth.
In 2016, the average life expectancy at birth for males was 71.6 years and for females was 78.3 years, with the average at 75.0 years.
After a setback during 1986–1996, mostly due to the Spitak earthquake, and the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia regained its position and was consistently among the top three former Soviet republics during 1997–2016, topping the list in 2007.
During the Soviet period, life expectancy was traditionally high in Armenia and topped all other republics of the USSR, and most other countries in Eastern Europe between 1978 and 1980.
PeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195562.81985–199068.41955–196064.91990–199568.11960–196567.01995–200070.21965–197069.22000–200572.41970–197570.82005–201072.71975–198070.62010–201574.01980–198570.9
Source: UN |
Demographics of Armenia | Reproduction indicators | Reproduction indicators
In 2016, natural increase of population comprised 12,366 persons and the crude rate of natural increase reached 4.1%, per 1000 population, decreasing by 0.4 percent compared to the previous year.
After double-digit crude natural increase rates between 1982 and 1992, rates did not exceed 5.5 after 1998. At a regional level, slightly better rates were recorded in the capital Yerevan, where the value of 5.5 is consistently being surpassed since 2009. Particularly weak is natural increase in Tavush and Syunik provinces, not much better off are Lori and Vayots Dzor provinces.
Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):
Year Total Urban Rural CBR TFR CBR TFR CBR TFR 2000 13.9 1.7 (1.5) 12.1 1.5 (1.3) 16.3 2.1 (1.7) 2005 14.6 1.7 (1.6) 14.5 1.6 (1.6) 14.9 1,8 (1,6) 2010 14.0 1.7 (1.6) 12.8 1.6 (1.5) 16.2 1.8 (1.8) 2015–2016 12.9 1.7 (1.7) 12.7 1.7 (1.6) 13.2 1.8 (1.8)
Armenia's Total Fertility Rate at 1.6 was lowest in the Caucasus region in 2017. TFR is expected to stay at 1.6 between 2015 and 2020, less from 1.7 in years 2010–2015.
The mean age of mothers at birth was 26.8 years and at first birth it was 24.7 years in 2016. Adolescent birth rate, as well as, share of women married aged 18 was lowest in Armenia compared to its neighbouring countries.
In 2016, infant mortality rate (in the first year of their life) was 8.6 per 1,000 live births.
A study revealed that population growth rate changes were more favourable in Armenia than in its surrounding countries between 2005 and 2015.
Since the 1960s, Armenia has the highest share of urban population among South Caucasus countries. |
Demographics of Armenia | Vital statistics summary data | Vital statistics summary data
B.R. Mitchell. International historical statistics 1750–2005: Africa. Asia and Oceania
Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Crude migration rate (per 1000)Total fertility rateInfant mortality rate (per 1000 births)Life expectancy males females total19501,354,00043,41411,52531,88932.18.523.619511,378,00049,79012,48237,30836.19.127.1 -9.419521,415,00053,84512,91640,92938.19.128.9 -2.019531,454,00051,02514,00737,01835.19.625.5 2.119541,504,00057,99512,30145,90038.68.230.4 4.019551,564,00059,47713,76345,71438.08.829.2 10.719561,616,00062,11912,28650,00038.57.630.8 2.419571,671,00066,86214,10152,76140.08.431.6 2.419581,732,00071,21314,08957,12441.18.133.0 3.519591,796,00072,21113,96858,24340.27.832.4 4.619601,867,00074,82512,67562,15040.16.833.3 6.24.6319611,942,00072,37712,49659,88137.36.430.8 9.44.2719622,005,00069,50513,29756,20834.76.628.0 4.44.1719632,064,00067,38212,04655,33632.65.826.8 2.64.1119642,133,00064,45412,41552,03930.25.824.4 9.03.9819652,205,00062,96912,58250,38728.65.722.9 10.93.9119662,273,00061,59412,44549,14927.15.521.6 9.23.6919672,337,00057,03112,62244,40924.45.419.0 9.23.5519682,401,00057,50312,23145,27223.95.118.9 8.53.4619692,462,00056,20312,78243,42122.85.217.6 7.83.2019702,518,00055,69412,84442,85022.15.117.0 5.73.1719712,580,00058,18812,51845,67022.64.917.7 6.93.1819722,644,00059,31313,73045,58322.45.217.2 7.63.0719732,708,00059,59314,10245,49122.05.216.8 7.42.9219742,770,00060,41914,27646,14321.85.216.7 6.22.8219752,826,00062,86615,49847,36822.25.516.8 3.42.7919762,883,00065,06515,68849,37722.65.417.1 3.12.7219772,943,00065,83015,81350,01722.45.417.0 3.82.6119783,001,00066,69816,46550,23322.25.516.7 3.02.4619793,051,00069,78617,12552,66122.95.617.3 -0.62.3819803,096,00070,32417,12453,20022.75.517.2 -2.52.3319813,144,00073,68216,65957,02323.45.318.1 -2.12.3119823,194,00074,22517,46956,75623.25.517.8 -1.92.2619833,243,00076,43618,36958,06723.65.717.9 -2.62.3519843,292,00079,76719,04360,72424.25.818.4 -3.32.4419853,339,00080,30619,58160,72524.15.918.2 -3.92.5619863,387,00081,19219,41061,78224.05.718.2 --3.82.5819873,435,00078,49219,72758,76522.95.717.1 -2.92.5519883,453,00074,70735,56739,14021.610.311.3 -6.12.4919893,482,00075,25020,85354,39721.66.015.6 -7.22.6119903,545,00079,88221,99357,88922.56.216.3 1.82.6319913,604,00077,82523,42554,40021.66.515.1 1.52.6019923,549,00070,58125,82444,75719.97.312.6 -27.92.4419933,410,00059,04127,50031,54117.38.19.2 -48.42.1419943,309,00051,14324,64826,49515.57.48.0 -37.61.87819953,255,00048,96024,84224,11815.07.67.4 -23.71.84219963,247,00048,13424,93623,19814.87.77.1 -9.61.83419973,242,00043,92923,98519,94413.57.46.2 -7.71.68019983,235,00039,36623,21016,15612.27.25.0 -7.21.50919993,230,00036,50224,08712,41511.37.53.8 -5.31.38820003,221,00034,27624,02510,25110.67.53.2 -6.01.30520013,214,00032,06524,0038,06210.07.52.5 -4.71.23920023,205,00032,22925,5546,67510.18.02.1 -4.9 1.20720033,188,00035,79326,0149,77911.28.23.1 -8.41.34920043,172,00037,52025,67911,84111.88.13.7 -8.71.38320053,155,00037,49926,37911,12011.98.43.5 -8.91.36620063,139,00037,63927,20210,43712.08.73.3 -8.41.34813.969.876.072.920073,122,00040,10526,83013,27512.88.64.3 -9.71.41710.969.876.173.020083,106,00041,18527,41213,77313.38.84.4 -9.51.44410.870.076.373.220093,089,00044,46627,52816,93814.48.95.5 -11.01.55110.470.076.373.220103,073,00044,82527,92116,90414.69.15.5 -10.71.55611.470.176.473.320113,056,00043,34027,96315,377 14.29.15.0 -10.51.49911.670.577.374.0201233,037,00042,48027,59914,88114.09.14.9 -11.11.58310.870.977.574.320133,022,00041,77027,16514,60513.89.04.8 -9.71.5739.771.577.974.820143,014,00043,18327,19615,98714.39.05.3 -7.91.6528.871.878.175.020153,007,00041,76327,87813,88513.99.34.6 -6.91.6458.871.778.275.020162,998,00040,59228,22612,36613.59.44.2 -7.21.6478.671.678.375.020172,986,00037,70027,15710,54312.79.23.5 -7.51.5768.271.978.775.420182,973,00036,57425,75110,82312.38.73.6 -8.01.5737.172.479.075.920192,965,00036,04126,1869,85512.28.83.4 -6.11.5996.173.179.576.520202,959,00036,35336,433-8012.312.3-0.0 -2.01.6567.368.478.673.520212,964,00036,62334,3882,23512.411.60.8 0.91.7106.967.477.472.420222,969,00036,37526,6929,68312.39.03.3 -1.61.7386.771.478.375.120232,991,20036,59024,31312,27712.38.24.1 3.41.8856.674.181.077.720243,075,80033,64825,5768,07211.18.42.7
1 The numbers of life births and deaths until 1959 were calculated from the birth rate and death rate, respectively
2 The high number of deaths in 1988 is related to the Spitak earthquake, while in the rest of the 20th century the death rate was equal to the rate of other European countries (excluding England).
3 The population estimate for 2012 has been recalculated on the basis of the 2011 Census.
2024: https://armstat.am/file/article/population_01_07_24.pdf |
Demographics of Armenia | Current vital statistics | Current vital statistics
+ Period Live births Deaths Natural increase January—March 2024 8,004 6,963 +1,041 January—March 2025 7,302 7,121 +181 Difference -702 (-8.8%) +158 (+2.3%) -860
+Birth rate by provinceProvinceTFR (2022)CBR (2022)Yerevan1.429.9Aragatsotn2.1015.4Ararat2.0815.2Armavir1.9014.0Gegharkunik1.7812.7Lori1.8513.0Kotayk2.0414.5Shirak1.6712.2Syunik1.8212.6Vayots Dzor1.9914.5Tavush1.8012.3 |
Demographics of Armenia | Ethnic groups | Ethnic groups
+Population of ethnic groups in Armenia in 1926–2022 Ethnicgroup census 19261 census 19392 census 19593 census 19704 census 19795 census 19896 census 20017 census 20118 census 20229 # % # % # % # % # % # % # % # % # % Armenians 743,571 84.5 1,061,997 82.8 1,551,610 88.0 2,208,327 88.6 2,724,975 89.7 3,083,616 93.3 3,145,354 97.9 2,961,514 98.12,875,69798.1 Yazidis 12,237 1.4 20,481 1.6 25,627 1.5 37,486 1.5 50,822 1.7 56,127 1.7 40,620 1.3 35,272 1.231,0771.1 Kurds 2,973 0.3 1,519 0.0 2,131 0.11,6630.1 Russians 19,548 2.2 51,464 4.0 56,464 3.2 66,108 2.7 70,336 2.3 51,555 1.6 14,660 0.5 11,862 0.414,0740.5 Assyrians 2,215 0.3 3,280 0.3 4,326 0.2 5,544 0.2 6,183 0.2 5,963 0.2 3,409 0.1 2,769 0.12,7540.1 Ukrainians 2,286 0.3 5,496 0.4 5,593 0.3 8,390 0.3 8,900 0.3 8,341 0.3 1,633 0.1 1,176 0.01,0050.0 Greeks 2,980 0.3 4,181 0.3 4,976 0.3 5,690 0.2 5,653 0.2 4,650 0.1 1,176 0.0 900 0.03650.0 Georgians 274 0.0 652 0.1 816 0.0 1,439 0.1 1,314 0.0 1,364 0.0 694 0․0 974 0.02230.0 Azerbaijanis 76,870 8.7 130,896 10.2 107,748 6.1 148,189 5.9 160,841 5.3 84,860 2.6 29 0․0 Jews 335 0.0 512 0.0 1,024 0.1 1,047 0.0 959 0.0 720 0.0 109 0․0 127 0․0 Others 18,001 2.0 3,379 0.3 4,864 0.3 9,653 0.4 7,276 0.2 7,580 0.2 3,808 0.1 2,129 0.15,5080.2 Total 880,464 1,282,338 1,763,048 2,491,873 3,037,259 3,304,776 3,213,011 3,018,8542,932,731 1 Source: . 2 Source: . 3 Source: . 4 Source: . 5 Source: . 6 Source: . 7 Source: . 8 Source:
thumb|292x292px|Ethnic map of Armenia
In 2002, ethnic minorities included Russians, Assyrians, Ukrainians, Yazidis, Kurds, Iranians, Greeks, Georgians, and Belarusians. There were also smaller communities of Vlachs, Mordvins, Ossetians, Udis, and Tats. Minorities of Poles and Caucasus Germans also exist, though they are heavily Russified.Garnik Asatryan and Victoria Arakelova, The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia , Routledge, part of the OSCE, 2002 |
Demographics of Armenia | Languages | Languages
Armenian is the sole official language.
As per 2022 census data, Armenian is the most widely spoken language at 99%, Kurdish at 1%, Russian at 65% and English at 5%.
Armenia is a member of La Francophonie, and hosted its annual summit in 2018.
The largest communities of the Armenian diaspora, are fluent in Russian and English.
+Population of Armenia by Native LanguageYear20012011LanguageNumber%Number%Armenian3,139,15297.702,956,61597.94Yezidi31,7990.9930,9731.03Russian29,5630.9223,4840.78Ukrainian8180.037330.02Assyrian2,4020.08Kurdish2,0300.07English4910.02Others11,6790.362,1260.07Total3,213,0113,018,854
+Population of Armenia by Proficient Language, 2011LanguageNativeNon-NativeTotal % Proficient Armenian2,956,61543,42099.45Yezidi30,9735,3701.2Russian23,4841,591,24653.53Ukrainian7331,1510.06Assyrian2,4021,4680.13Kurdish2,0301,3090.11English491107,9223.59French10,1060.33 |
Demographics of Armenia | Religions | Religions
Most Armenians are Christians, primarily of the Apostolic Church rite. Armenia is considered the first nation to officially adopt Christianity, which was first preached in Armenia by two Apostles of Jesus, St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus in the 1st century. The Armenian Apostolic Church can trace its roots back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. The country formally adopted the Christian faith in 301 A.D. Over 90 percent of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenia also has a population of Catholics and Evangelical Protestants.
According to the 2022 Armenian census, number of adherents of primary religions in Armenia are the following: 2,793,042 (95.2%) Armenian Apostolic, 15,836 (0.5%) Evangelical, 14,349 (0.5%) Yazidism, 17,884 (0.6%) Armenian and Roman (Latin) Catholic, 6,316 (0.2%) Eastern Orthodox, 5,282 (0.2%) Jehovah's Witness, 2,000 (0.1%) Molokan (non-Orthodox Russians), 524 Assyrian Church of the East (Nestorian), 2,132 Paganism, 515 Islam, 118 Judaism. 17,501 (0.6%) people chose No Religion and 49,353 people chose (1.7%) No Response. |
Demographics of Armenia | Emigration | Emigration
thumb|450x450px|Annual net migration rate (per 1000 population). Source data and projections (2019) from UN.
Compared to its neighbouring countries, Armenia has the highest share of immigrants (6.5 percent of total population, 2017 data).
The estimated number of population net migration is −24.8 thousand persons, according to the Integrated living conditions survey of households of 2016; for urban population −13.8 thousand and for rural population −11.0 thousand persons.
24.9% of households were involved in external and internal migration processes over the period of 2013– 2016. Migration directions were distributed as follows: 12% – internal, 10.5% – Republic of Artsakh, rest (76.4%) – international (of which 89.8% – Russia). Among household members of age 15 and above, who left their permanent residence in 2013–2016 for 3 months and longer and had not returned as of 2016, 11.9% were in Armenia, 13.0% in Artsakh, and 75.1% in other countries, predominantly in Russia. More than 54% of migrant household members of the age 15 years and above sent money and/ or goods to their families/relatives/friends within 12 months preceding the survey.
According to 2019 UN data, the emigration rate averaged annually around 1.7 per 1000 inhabitants in years 2015–2020 and is expected to remain the same until year 2045. These are below average emigration rate of 11.5 per 1000 in years 2000–2010 and even below the emigration rate of 3.2 per 1000 in years 1980–1985. |
Demographics of Armenia | Migration during post-Soviet period | Migration during post-Soviet period
It is estimated that 740,000-1,300,000 people left Armenia between 1988 and 2005.
Economically recessed situation in Armenia during the 1990s enhanced the emigration of 125,000 refugees and displaced persons. Human and natural disasters also caused approximately 192,000 individuals to become internally displaced persons in Armenia. Among the disasters, the major impact was the 1988 Spitak earthquake.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, borders that were once formal, now assumed real significance. Nonetheless, increased political, inter-ethnic, and social tensions prompted more and more people to migrate between Armenia and its neighbouring countries. As a result, approximately 100,000 persons or 3 percent of the country's population emigrated during the beginning of 1990s.
Refugees and forcibly displaced persons started arriving to Armenia in spring 1988 and continued coming until late 1991. During this time, Armenia gave shelter to approximately 419,000 refugees and displaced persons, 360,000 of whom migrated from Azerbaijan. The rest immigrated from other regions of the former Soviet Union.
Migration flows during the post-soviet period can be divided into 3 stages:
The first stage, prior to 1995, was characterized by mass emigration due to economic reasons, a drop in living standards, and a rapid deterioration in the delivery and quality of public utilities. It is estimated that over 800,000 people emigrated from Armenia during this period and that only 400,000 of them have returned since then.
During the second stage, from 1995 to 2001, emigration decreased, with most of those leaving to be labour migrants in search of better economic and social opportunities. 180,000 people (6 per cent of the population) emigrated from Armenia during these six years These emigrants tended to resettle abroad permanently and were later joined by relatives through family reunification.
The third stage, from 2002 to the present, is marked by a constant yearly increase in the number of persons travelling to and from Armenia. This stage was also characterized by a shift to a positive migration balance.
According to government records, over 55 per cent of all emigrants are unmarried and 60 per cent are males between the ages of 20 and 44 (very few are children and even fewer are elderly people). Most have an educational level far higher than the national average and have no intention of returning to Armenia. Although no hard data exists, emigrant families appear to be even less likely to return.
The emigration of the major part of the Armenian population has brought about important changes. For example, a decrease in the number of people of reproductive age in Armenia has led to a progressive drop in marriages and birth rates. There has also been a considerable change in the ethnic composition of the population in Armenia due to a higher rate of emigration among ethnic minorities. |
Demographics of Armenia | Immigration | Immigration |
Demographics of Armenia | Migration data | Migration data
+ Armenia Migration Data (2010-present) Year RA - Total Arrived RA - Total Departed Net Migration - Total International Migration - Arrived International Migration - Departed 2010 32,500 69,800 -37,300 18,300 55,600 2011 30,900 59,400 -28,500 17,800 46,300 2012 29,300 38,700 -9,400 19,500 28,900 2013 19,800 44,200 -24,400 12,300 36,700 2014 17,400 39,200 -21,800 10,700 32,500 2015 19,500 45,400 -25,900 10,600 36,500 2016 15,900 40,800 -24,900 8,100 33,000 2017 13,300 37,300 -24,000 9,200 33,200 2018 15,300 33,586 -18,286 10,100 28,386 2019 15,800 31,200 -15,400 12,100 27,500 2020 36,600 33,200 3,400 10,800 7,400 2021 19,205 23,324 -4,119 10,120 14,239 2022 29,585 23,505 6,080 15,400 9,320 2023 78,500 37,100 41,400 48,300 6,900
Migration Statistics, Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, 2021. |
Demographics of Armenia | Wealth and poverty | Wealth and poverty |
Demographics of Armenia | Inequality | Inequality
Out of 41 emerging economies, Armenia was among only four, which recorded rising inequality (measured by Gini coefficient) in years 2007–2015. |
Demographics of Armenia | Wealth | Wealth
According to Global Wealth Report, prepared by Credit Suisse, mean wealth per adult in Armenia in 2019 is estimated at $19,517 (rising 9 times from estimated $2,177 in year 2000). Mean wealth per adult in Armenia surpasses corresponding values for neighboring countries Georgia and Azerbaijan by over 50%, all CIS countries except Russia and Kazakhstan, and neighboring Iran. Growth rate of mean wealth per adult between 2000 and 2019 with the value of 9 times beats all neighboring countries, most of CIS countries as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Median wealth per adult is reported at $8,309 in 2019, above the world average, rising 9.6 times from $862 in year 2000.
Between 2000 and 2019, average debts per adult grew 28.7 times to $1,261, or 6.5% of wealth per adult (below the 11.9% world average).
55% of adults own less than $10,000, 42.7% — $10,000–$100,000, 2.2% — $100,000–$1 million and 0.1% — over $1 million. The share of adults owning less than $10,000 with the value of 55% is less than corresponding value in each of CIS countries, neighboring Iran and Turkey, as well as the world average. Gini coefficient for wealth is reported at 66.3%, less than 82.4% the European average and 88.5% the world average. |
Demographics of Armenia | Poverty | Poverty
As much as 53.5% of the country's population was officially considered poor in 2004. Poverty fell significantly in the following years amid double-digit economic growth that came to an end with the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008. It soared to almost 36% in 2010, one year after Armenia's Gross Domestic Product shrunk by over 14%. Afterwards, there was a decreasing trend throughout the last years reaching 23.5% in 2018, down from 25.7% in 2017."Armenian Government Reports Further Drop In Poverty" azatutyun.am
The poverty indicators in Shirak, Lori, Kotayk, Tavush and Armavir provinces are higher than the country average. The highest poverty rate in the country has been recorded in Shirak province, where 46% of the population is below the poverty line. To overcome poverty, Armenia would need AMD 63.2 billion, or an amount equal to 1.2% of GDP, in addition to the resources already allocated for social assistance, assuming that such assistance would be efficiently targeted to the poor.
In terms of the international poverty line corresponding to US$1.25 in 2005 PPP, poverty in Armenia went down from 19.3% in the year 2001 to 1.5% in the year 2008 and remained nearly unchanged until the year 2015 moving in the range of 1.5% – 2.7%. |
Demographics of Armenia | See also | See also
Assyrians in Armenia
Censuses of Armenia
Demographics of the Republic of Artsakh
Ethnic minorities in Armenia
Greeks in Armenia
Health in Armenia
Kurds in Armenia
List of European countries by population
Lom people
Peoples of the Caucasus
Russians in Armenia
Social protection in Armenia
Yazidis in Armenia |
Demographics of Armenia | Notes | Notes |
Demographics of Armenia | References | References |
Demographics of Armenia | Bibliography | Bibliography |
Demographics of Armenia | External links | External links
Population cartogram of Armenia
Khachatryan, Anush; Karapetyan, Arsen: "Public Green Space in Armenian Cities: A Legal Analysis" in the Ccaucasus Analytical Digest No. 23
__FORCETOC__
|
Demographics of Armenia | Table of Content | Short description, Historical statistics, Population size and structure, Structure of the population, Vital statistics, Life expectancy, Reproduction indicators, Vital statistics summary data, Current vital statistics, Ethnic groups, Languages, Religions, Emigration, Migration during post-Soviet period, Immigration, Migration data, Wealth and poverty, Inequality, Wealth, Poverty, See also, Notes, References, Bibliography, External links |
Politics of Armenia | Short description | The politics of Armenia take place in the framework of the parliamentary representative democratic republic of Armenia, whereby the president of Armenia is the head of state and the prime minister of Armenia the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and Parliament. |
Politics of Armenia | History | History
Armenia became independent from the Russian Empire on 28 May 1918 as the Republic of Armenia, later referred as First Republic of Armenia. About a month before its independence Armenia was part of short lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. Suffering heavy losses during the Turkish invasion of Armenia and after the Soviet invasion of Armenia, the government of the First Republic resigned on 2 December 1920. Soviet Russia reinstalled its control over the country, which later became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR. The TSFSR was dissolved in 1936 and Armenia became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union known as the Armenian SSR, later also referred as the Second Republic of Armenia.
During the dissolution of the Soviet Union the population of Armenia voted overwhelmingly for independence following the 1991 Armenian independence referendum. It was followed by a presidential election in October 1991 that gave 83% of the votes to Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Earlier in 1990, when the National Democratic Union party defeated the Armenian Communist Party, he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Council of Armenia. Ter-Petrosyan was re-elected in 1996. Following public discontent and demonstrations against his policies on Nagorno-Karabakh, the President resigned in January 1998 and was replaced by Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan, who was elected as second President in March 1998. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, parliament Speaker Karen Demirchyan and six other officials during parliament seating on 27 October 1999, a period of political instability ensued during which an opposition headed by elements of the former Armenian National Movement government attempted unsuccessfully to force Kocharyan to resign. In May 2000, Andranik Margaryan replaced Aram Sargsyan (a brother of assassinated Vazgen Sargsyan) as Prime Minister.
Kocharyan's re-election as president in 2003 was followed by widespread allegations of ballot-rigging. He went on to propose controversial constitutional amendments on the role of parliament. These were rejected in a referendum the following May. Concurrent parliamentary elections left Kocharyan's party in a very powerful position in the parliament. There were mounting calls for the President's resignation in early 2004 with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets in support of demands for a referendum of confidence in him.
The Government of Armenia's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy. However, international observers have questioned the fairness of Armenia's parliamentary and presidential elections and constitutional referendum between 1995 and 2018, citing polling deficiencies, lack of cooperation by the Electoral Commission, and poor maintenance of electoral lists and polling places. Armenia is considered one of the most democratic nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the most democratic in the Caucasus region.
The observance of human rights in Armenia is uneven and is marked by shortcomings. Police brutality allegedly still goes largely unreported, while observers note that defendants are often beaten to extract confessions and are denied visits from relatives and lawyers. Public demonstrations usually take place without government interference, though one rally in November 2000 by an opposition party was followed by the arrest and imprisonment for a month of its organizer. Freedom of religion is not always protected under existing law. Nontraditional churches, especially the Jehovah's Witnesses, have been subjected to harassment, sometimes violently. All churches apart from the Armenian Apostolic Church must register with the government, and proselytizing was forbidden by law, though since 1997 the government has pursued more moderate policies. The government's policy toward conscientious objection is in transition, as part of Armenia's accession to the Council of Europe.
Armenia boasts a good record on the protection of national minorities, for whose representatives (Assyrians, Kurds, Russians and Yazidis) four seats are reserved in the National Assembly. The government does not restrict internal or international travel. |
Politics of Armenia | Transition to a parliamentary republic | Transition to a parliamentary republic
In December 2015, the country held a referendum which approved transformation of Armenia from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic.
As a result, the president was stripped of his veto faculty and the presidency was downgraded to a figurehead position elected by parliament every seven years. The president is not allowed to be a member of any political party and re-election is forbidden.
Skeptics saw the constitutional reform as an attempt of third president Serzh Sargsyan to remain in control by becoming Prime Minister after fulfilling his second presidential term in 2018.
In March 2018, the Armenian parliament elected Armen Sarkissian as the new President of Armenia. The controversial constitutional reform to reduce presidential power was implemented, while the authority of the prime minister was strengthened. In May 2018, parliament elected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the new prime minister. His predecessor Serzh Sargsyan resigned two weeks earlier following widespread anti-government demonstrations.
In June 2021, early parliamentary elections were held. Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract party won 71 seats, while 29 went to the Armenia Alliance headed by former President Robert Kocharyan. The I Have Honor Alliance, which formed around another former president, Serzh Sargsyan, won seven seats. After the election, Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was officially appointed to the post of prime minister by the country's president Armen Sarkissian. In January 2022, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigned from office, stating that the constitution does no longer give the president sufficient powers or influence. On 3 March 2022, Vahagn Khachaturyan was elected as the fifth president of Armenia in the second round of parliamentary vote. |
Politics of Armenia | Government | Government
|President
|Vahagn Khachaturyan
|Independent
|13 March 2022
|-
|Prime Minister
|Nikol Pashinyan
|Civil Contract
|8 May 2018
|} |
Politics of Armenia | Legislative branch | Legislative branch
The unicameral National Assembly of Armenia (Azgayin Zhoghov) is the legislative branch of the government of Armenia.
Before the 2015 Armenian constitutional referendum, it was initially made of 131 members, elected for five-year terms: 41 members in single-seat constituencies and 90 by proportional representation. The proportional-representation seats in the National Assembly are assigned on a party-list basis among those parties that receive at least 5% of the total of the number of the votes.
Following the 2015 referendum, the number of MPs was reduced from the original 131 members to 101 and single-seat constituencies were removed. |
Politics of Armenia | Political parties and elections | Political parties and elections
As of January 2025, there are 123 political parties registered in Armenia.How many parties are there in the Republic of Armenia as of January 1, 2025? Last year alone, 8 parties received state registration The electoral threshold is currently set at 5% for single parties and 7% for blocs. |
Politics of Armenia | Latest national elections | Latest national elections |
Politics of Armenia | Latest presidential elections | Latest presidential elections |
Politics of Armenia | Independent agencies | Independent agencies
Independent of three traditional branches are the following independent agencies, each with separate powers and responsibilities:
the Constitutional Court of Armenia
the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia
the Human Rights Defender of Armenia
the Central Bank of Armenia
the Prosecutor General of Armenia
the Audit Chamber of Armenia |
Politics of Armenia | Corruption | Corruption
Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Armenia 60th out of 180 in the world with 47 points. This has pushed the country up from being ranked at 60th in 2020 and 58th in 2021. According to Transparency International, Armenia has improved significantly on the Corruption Perception Index since 2012, especially since the 2018 revolution, the country has taken steps to counter corruption. Further mentioning that "Armenia has taken a gradual approach to reform, resulting in steady and positive improvements in anti-corruption. However, safeguarding judicial independence and ensuring checks and balances remain critical first steps in its anti-corruption efforts. The effectiveness of those efforts is additionally challenged by the current political and economic crisis as a result of the recent Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the subsequent protests against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over a ceasefire deal".
In 2008, Transparency International reduced its Corruption Perceptions Index for Armenia from 3.0 in 2007Global Corruption Report 2008, Transparency International, Chapter 7.4, p. 225. to 2.9 out of 10 (a lower score means more perceived corruption); Armenia slipped from 99th place in 2007 to 109th out of 180 countries surveyed (on a par with Argentina, Belize, Moldova, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu).2008 CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX , Transparency International, 2008. |
Politics of Armenia | See also | See also
Constitution of Armenia
Constitutional economics
Elections in Armenia
Foreign relations of Armenia
List of political parties in Armenia
Politics of Artsakh
Programs of political parties in Armenia
Rule according to higher law |
Politics of Armenia | Notes | Notes |
Politics of Armenia | References | References |
Politics of Armenia | External links | External links
Global Integrity Report: Armenia has information on anti-corruption efforts
Petrosyan, David: "The Political System of Armenia: Form and Content" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 17
Control Chamber of The Republic of Armenia
Armenian language document
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia | Official Web Site | parliament.am
|
Politics of Armenia | Table of Content | Short description, History, Transition to a parliamentary republic, Government, Legislative branch, Political parties and elections, Latest national elections, Latest presidential elections, Independent agencies, Corruption, See also, Notes, References, External links |
Economy of Armenia | Short description | The economy of Armenia grew by 5.9% in 2024, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, with total output amounting to $25.5 billion. GDP contracted sharply in 2020 by 7.1%, mainly due to the COVID-19 recession and the war against Azerbaijan. In contrast it grew by 7.6% in 2019, 5.8% in 2021, 12.6% in 2022 and 8.3% in 2023. Between 2012 and 2018 GDP grew 40.7%, and key banking indicators like assets and credit exposures almost doubled.
While part of the Soviet Union, the economy of Armenia was based largely on manufacturing industry—chemicals, electronic products, machinery, processed food, synthetic rubber and textiles; it was highly dependent on outside resources. Armenian mines produce copper, zinc, gold and lead. The vast majority of energy is produced with imported fuel from Russia, including gas and nuclear fuel for Armenia's Metsamor nuclear power plant. The main domestic energy source is hydroelectric. Small amounts of coal, gas and petroleum have not yet been developed.
The severe trade imbalance has been somewhat offset by international aid and remittances from Armenians abroad, and foreign direct investment. Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector. |
Economy of Armenia | Overview | 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. Armenia began borrowing soon after declaring independence. In 2000, Armenian governmental debt reached its greatest level relative to GDP (49.3 percent of GDP).
Armenia is a food importer, and its mineral deposits (gold and 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. Political instability and the threat of war placed a significant strain on economic development. Despite robust growth in recent years, the problem of geopolitical uncertainty resurfaced during the 2020 war, contributing to a 7.1% drop in GDP. Armenia's public debt rose to 67.4% in 2020, but fell below 50% again in 2022. |
Economy of Armenia | Global competitiveness | Global competitiveness
In the 2020 report of Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation, Armenia is classified as "mostly free" and ranks 34th, improving by 13 positions and ahead of all other Eurasian Economic Union countries and several EU countries including Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Belgium, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy.
In the 2019 report (data for 2017) of Economic Freedom of the World published by Fraser Institute Armenia ranks 27th (classified most free) out of 162 economies.
In the 2019 report of Global Competitiveness Index Armenia ranks 69th out of 141 economies.
In the 2020 report (data for 2019) of Doing Business Index Armenia ranks 47th with 10th rank on "starting business" sub-index.
In the 2019 report (data for 2018) of Human Development Index by UNDP Armenia ranked 81st and is classified into "high human development" group.
In the 2021 report (data for 2020) of Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International Armenia ranked 49 of 179 countries. |
Economy of Armenia | History of the modern Armenian economy | History of the modern Armenian economy
At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of present-day Armenia was an agricultural region with some copper mining and cognac production. From 1914 through 1921, Caucasian Armenia suffered from the genocide of about 1.5 million Armenian inhabitants in their own homeland which caused total property and financial collapse when all of their assets and belongings were forcibly taken away by the Turks, the consequences of which after 105 years to this day remain incalculable, revolution, the influx of refugees from Turkish Armenia, disease, hunger and economic misery. About 200,000 people died in 1919 alone. At that point, only American relief efforts saved Armenia from total collapse. Thus, Armenians went from being one of the wealthiest ethnic groups in the region to suffering from poverty and famine. Armenians were the second richest ethnic group in Anatolia after the Greeks, and they were heavily involved in very high productive sectors such as banking, architecture, and trade. However, after the mass killings of Armenian intellectuals in April 1915 and the genocide targeted towards the whole Armenian population left the people and the country in ruins. The genocide was responsible for the loss of many high-quality skills that the Armenians possessed.
thumbnail|100 million rubles banknote
The first Soviet Armenian government regulated economic activity stringently, nationalizing all economic enterprises, requisitioning grain from peasants, and suppressing most private market activity. This first experiment of state control ended with the advent of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1921–1927. This policy continued state control of the large enterprises and banks, but peasants could market much of their grain, and small businesses could function. In Armenia, the NEP years brought partial recovery from the economic disaster of the post-World War I period. By 1926 agricultural production in Armenia had reached nearly three-quarters of its prewar level.
By the end of the 1920s, Stalin's regime had revoked the NEP and re-established the centralised state monopoly on all economic activity. Once this occurred, the main goal of the Soviet economic policy in Armenia was to turn a predominantly agrarian and rural republic into an industrial and urban one. Among other restrictions, peasants now were forced to sell nearly all of their output to state procurement agencies rather than at the open market. From the 1930s through the 1960s, an industrial infrastructure has been constructed. Besides hydroelectric plants and canals, roads were built and gas pipelines were laid to bring fuel and food from Azerbaijan and Russia.
The state socialist command economy, in which market forces were suppressed and all orders for production and distribution came from the state authorities, survived in all its essential features until the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991. In the early stages of the communist economic revolution, Armenia underwent a fundamental transformation into a "proletarian" society. Between 1929 and 1939, the percentage of Armenia's work force categorised as industrial workers grew from 13% to 31%. By 1935 industry supplied 62% of Armenia's economic production. Highly integrated and sheltered within artificial barter economy of the Soviet system from the 1930s until the end of the communist era, the Armenian economy showed few signs of self-sufficiency at any time during that period. In 1988, Armenia produced only 0.9% of the net material product of the Soviet Union (1.2% of industry, 0.7% of agriculture). The republic retained 1.4% of total state budget revenue, delivered 63.7% of its NMP to other republics, and exported only 1.4% of what it produced to markets outside the Soviet Union.
Agriculture accounted for only 20% of net material product and 10% of employment before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Armenia's industry was especially dependent on the Soviet military-industrial complex. About 40% of all enterprises in the republic were devoted to defense, and some factories lost 60% to 80% of their business in the last years of the Soviet Union, when massive cuts were made in the national defense expenditures. As the republic's economy faced the prospects of competing in world markets in the mid-1990s, the great liabilities of Armenia's industry were its outdated equipment and infrastructure and the pollution emitted by many of the country's heavy industrial plants.
The economic downturn that began in 1989 worsened dramatically in 1992. According to statistics, the GDP declined by 37.5 percent in 1991 compared to 1990, and all sectors contributing to the GDP decreased in production. The collapse of industry in favor of agriculture, whose products were mostly imported throughout the Soviet period, changed the structure of sectoral contributions to GDP.
In 1991, Armenia's last year as a Soviet republic, national income fell 12% from the previous year, while per capita gross national product was 4,920 rubles, only 68% of the Soviet average. In large part due to the earthquake of 1988, the Azerbaijani blockade that began in 1989 and the collapse of the international trading system of the Soviet Union, the Armenian economy of the early 1990s remained far below its 1980 production levels. In the first years of independence (1992–93), inflation was extremely high, productivity and national income dropped dramatically, and the national budget ran large deficits.
A period of chronic shortages, was the first stage of price deregulation, which allowed goods to stay in Armenia as opposed to being exported for better prices; the inflation rates were 10 percent in 1990, 100 percent in 1991, and 642.5 percent during the first four months of 1992, compared with the first four months of 1991. Thus, there were two opposing dynamics: price increases in response to shortages and falling incomes due to the recession and unemployment. |
Economy of Armenia | Post-communist economic reforms | Post-communist economic reforms
Armenia introduced elements of the free market and privatisation into their economic system in the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev began advocating economic reform. To supply the country's basic needs, the first decision was land reform and the privatization of land. This allowed for the emergence of small-parcel agriculture supplying markets and supporting self-sustenance during the period of shortages. Cooperatives were set up in the service sector, particularly in restaurants, although substantial resistance came from the Communist Party of Armenia (CPA) and other groups that had enjoyed privileged position in the old economy. In the late 1980s, much of Armenia's economy already was opening either semi-officially or illegally, with widespread corruption and bribery. The so-called mafia, made up of interconnected groups of powerful officials and their relatives and friends, sabotaged the efforts of reformers to create a lawful market system. When the December 1988 earthquake brought millions of dollars of foreign aid to the devastated regions of Armenia, much of the money went to corrupt and criminal elements.
Beginning in 1991, the democratically elected government pushed vigorously for privatisation and market relations, although its efforts were frustrated by the old ways of doing business in Armenia, the Azerbaijani blockade, and the costs of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. In 1992, the Law on the Programme of Privatisation and Decentralisation of Incompletely Constructed Facilities established a state privatisation committee, with members from all political parties. In the middle of 1993, the committee announced a two-year privatisation programme, whose first stage would be privatisation of 30% of state enterprises, mostly services and light industries. The remaining 70%, including many bankrupt, nonfunctional enterprises, were to be privatised in a later stage with a minimum of government restriction, to encourage private initiative. For all enterprises, the workers would receive 20% of their firm's property free of charge; 30% would be distributed to all citizens by means of vouchers; and the remaining 50% was to be distributed by the government, with preference given to members of the labour organisations. A major problem of this system, however, was the lack of supporting legislation covering foreign investment protection, bankruptcy, monopoly policy, and consumer protection.
In the first post-communist years, efforts to interest foreign investors in joint enterprises were only moderately successful because of the blockade and the energy shortage. Only in late 1993 was a department of foreign investment established in the Ministry of Economy, to spread information about Armenia's investment opportunities and improve the legal infrastructure for investment activity. A specific goal of this agency was creating a market for scientific and technical intellectual property.
A few Armenians living abroad made large-scale investments. Besides a toy factory and construction projects, diaspora Armenians built a cold storage plant (which in its first years had little produce to store) and established the American University of Armenia in Yerevan to teach the techniques necessary to run a market economy.
Armenia was admitted to the International Monetary Fund in May 1992 and to the World Bank in September. A year later, the government complained that those organisations were holding back financial assistance and announced its intention to move toward fuller price liberalisation, and the removal of all tariffs, quotas, and restrictions of foreign trade. Although privatisation had slowed because of catastrophic collapse of the economy, Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan informed the United States officials in the fall of 1993 that plans had been made to embark on a renewed privatisation programme by the end of the year.
Like other former states, Armenia's economy suffers from the legacy of a centrally planned economy and the breakdown of former Soviet trading patterns. Soviet investment in and support of Armenian industry has virtually disappeared, so that few major enterprises are still able to function. In addition, the effects of the 1988 earthquake, which killed more than 25,000 people and made 500,000 homeless, are still being felt. Although a cease-fire has held since 1994, the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved. The consequent blockade along both the Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy, because of Armenia's dependence on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Land routes through Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed; routes through Georgia and Iran are adequate and reliable. In 1992–93, the GDP had fallen nearly 60% from its 1989 level. The national currency, the dram, suffered hyperinflation for the first few years after its introduction in 1993.
Armenia has registered strong economic growth since 1995 and inflation has been negligible for the past several years. New sectors, such as precious stone processing and jewelry making and communication technology (primarily Armentel, which is left from the USSR era and is owned by external investors). This steady economic progress has earned Armenia increasing support from international institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, EBRD, as well as other international financial institutions (IFIs) and foreign countries are extending considerable grants and loans. Total loans extended to Armenia since 1993 exceed $800 million. These loans are targeted at reducing the budget deficit, stabilizing the local currency; developing private businesses; energy; the agriculture, food processing, transportation, and health and education sectors; and ongoing rehabilitation work in the earthquake zone.
By 1994, however, the Armenian government had launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates in 1995–2005. The economic growth of Armenia expressed in GDP per capita was one of strongest in the CIS. GDP went from $350 to more than $800 on average between 1995 and 2003. Three principal factors explain this result: the credibility of the macroeconomic policies of stabilization, the correction effect following the depression, and the importance of external transfers, in particular since 2000. Armenia became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2003. Armenia also has managed to slash inflation, stabilize its currency, and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Armenia's unemployment rate, however, remains high, despite strong economic growth.
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 the Metsamor nuclear plant, which is under international pressure to close due to its old design. The European Union had classified the VVER 440 Model V230 light-water-cooled reactors as the "oldest and least reliable" category of all the 66 Soviet reactors built in the former Eastern Bloc. However the IAEA has found that the Metsamor NPP has adequate safety and can function beyond its design lifespan.
The country's electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002. |
Economy of Armenia | Outperforming GDP growth | Outperforming GDP growth
alt=|thumb|upright 1.2|GDP growth rates in Armenia and some neighboring countries and some regions in years 2010–2017
According to official preliminary data GDP grew by 7.6 per cent in 2019, largest recording growth since 2008.
Nominal GDP per capita was approximately $4,196 in 2018 and is expected to reach $8,283 in 2023, surpassing neighbouring Azerbaijan and Georgia.
With 8.3%, Armenia recorded highest degree of GDP growth among Eurasian Economic Union countries in 2018 January–June against the same period of 2017.
The economy of Armenia had grown by 7.5% in 2017 and reached a nominal GDP of $11.5 billion per annum, while per capita figure grew by 10.1% and reached $3880. With 7.29% Armenia was second best in GDP per capita growth terms in Europe and Central Asia in 2017.
Armenian GDP PPP (measured in current international dollar) grew total of 316% per capita in 2000–2017, sixth-highest worldwide.
GDP grew 40.7% between 2012 and 2018, and key banking indicators like assets and credit exposures almost doubled.
thumb|upright 1.2|GDP (PPP) per capita of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in years 1994–2022, IMF data.
Year GDP (millions of drams) GDP Growth GDP per capita (drams)GDP deflator 2000 +5.9% −1.4% 2001 +9.6% +4.1% 2002 +13.2% +0.7% 2003 +14.0% +4.6% 2004 +10.5% +6.3% 2005 +13.9% +3.2% 2006 +13.2% +4.6% 2007 +13.7% +4.2% 2008 +6.9% +5.9% 2009 −14.1% +2.6% 2010 +2.2% +7.8% 2011 +4.7% +4.2% 2012 +7.2% -1.2% 2013 +3.3% +3.4% 2014 +3.6% +2.3% 2015 +3.0% +1.2%20165,067,293.5 +0.2% +0.3%20175,564,493.3 +7.5% +2.1%20186,017,035.2 +5.2% +2.8%20196,543,321.8 +7.6% +1.0%20206,181,664.1 -7.5% +2.0% 2021 +5.8% +6.9% 2022 +12.6% +8.0% 2023 +8.7% +2.8% |
Economy of Armenia | Regional GDP | Regional GDP
This is a list of provinces of Armenia by nominal GDP shown in Armenian dram and US$. Statistics shown are for 2017.
RankRegionGDP (bil. ֏)GDP (bil. US$)GDP per capita (֏)GDP per capita (US$)13,032.4546.2862,816,4335,8382Ararat Province381.6590.7911,478,7273,0653Kotayk Province346.8430.7191,375,2702,8514Armavir Province340.6040.7061,284,3272,6625Syunik Province335.2380.6952,417,0015,0106Lori Province276.9310.5741,263,3722,6197Shirak Province238.0010.4931,002,9542,0798Gegharkunik Province224.2410.465974,1182,0199Aragatsotn Province175.2290.3631,371,1212,84210Tavush Province118.6570.246956,9081,98411Vayots Dzor Province94.6360.1961,892,7163,9245,564.49311.5351,867,6563,872 |
Economy of Armenia | 2020 recession | 2020 recession
The Armenian economy performed poorly in 2020, and contracted by 7.2% after years of consecutive growth. The two biggest contributing factors were the COVID-19 recession and the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. In the first half of 2020, the Armenian economy was negatively impacted by the economic restrictions that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These restrictions included a stay-at-home order, an indoor social distancing requirement, and a mask mandate. These restrictions had a negative impact on businesses; according to the World Bank, individual consumption dropped by 9% in the first six months of 2020 due to the stay-at-home order.
The economy was further impacted by the war against Azerbaijan later in the year. |
Economy of Armenia | Main sectors of economy | Main sectors of economy |
Economy of Armenia | Agricultural sector | Agricultural sector
Armenia produced in 2018:
415 thousand tons of potatoes;
199 thousand tons of vegetables;
187 thousand tons of wheat;
179 thousand tons of grapes;
138 thousand tons of tomatoes;
126 thousand tons of watermelons;
124 thousand tons of barley;
109 thousand tons of apples;
104 thousand tons of apricots (12th-largest world producer);;
89 thousand tons of cabbages;
54 thousand tons of sugar beet;
52 thousand tons of peaches;
50 thousand tons of cucumbers;
39 thousand tons of onions;
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.
thumb|left|Cornelian cherries, figs, pears, peaches and apples sold at a market in Yerevan are among a few of Armenian agricultural products
As of 2010, the agricultural production comprises on average 25 percent of Armenia's GDP. In 2006, the agricultural sector accounted for about 20 percent of Armenia's GDP."Kocharian Orders Tax Exemption For Armenian Farmers", Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), August 8, 2006.
Armenia's agricultural output dropped by 17.9 percent in the period of January–September 2010. This was owing to bad weather, a lack of a government stimulus package, and the continuing effects of decreased agricultural subsidies by the Armenian government (per WTO requirements). In addition, the share of agriculture in Armenia's GDP hovered around 17.9% until 2012 according to the World Bank. Then already in 2013 the share of it was a bit higher comprising 18.43%. Afterwards a declining trend was registered in the period of 2013-2017 reaching to around 14.90% in 2017. By comparing the share of agriculture as a component of GDP with the neighboring countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran) one can notice that the percentage is highest for Armenia. As of 2017 the contribution of agriculture to the GDP for the neighboring countries was 6.88, 5.63, 6.08 and 9.05 respectively.
In 2022, the industry with the highest number of companies registered in Armenia is Services with 1,907 companies followed by Wholesale Trade and Manufacturing with 510 and 408 companies respectively. |
Economy of Armenia | Mining | Mining
thumb|Armenia's largest mine, the Kajaran copper-molybdenum open-pit mine in southern Armenia
In 2017, mining industry output with grew by 14.2% to 172 billion AMD at current prices and run at 3.1% of Armenia's GDP.
In 2017, mineral product (without precious metals and stones) exports grew by 46.9% and run at US$692 million, which comprised 30.1% of all exports. |
Economy of Armenia | Construction sector | Construction sector
Real estate transactions count grew by 36% in September 2019 compared to September 2018. Also, the average market value of one square meter of housing in apartment buildings in Yerevan in September 2019 grew by 10.8% from September 2018.
In 2017, construction output increased by 2.2% reaching 416 billion AMD.
Armenia experienced a construction boom during the latter part of the 2000s. According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia's booming construction sector generated about 20 percent of Armenia's GDP during the first eight months of 2007."Armenian Growth Still In Double Digits", Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), September 20, 2007. According to a World Bank official, 30 percent of Armenia's economy in 2009 came from the construction sector.
However, during the January to September 2010 period, the sector experienced a 5.2 percent year-on-year decrease, which according to the Civilitas Foundation is an indication of the unsustainability of a sector based on an elite market, with few products for the median or low budgets. This decrease comes despite the fact that an important component of the government stimulus package was to support the completion of ongoing construction projects. |
Economy of Armenia | Energy | Energy
In 2017, electricity generation increased by 6.1% reaching 7.8 billion KWh. |
Economy of Armenia | Digital economy | Digital economy
The digital economy is a branch of the economy based on digital computing technologies. The digital economy is sometimes referred to as the Internet economy or the web economy. The digital economy is often intertwined with the traditional economy, making it difficult to distinguish between them. Aimed at the sector's development on November 15, 2021, the Silicon Mountains Summit dedicated to introducing intelligent solutions in the economy was held in Yerevan. The main topic of the summit was the prospect of digitalization of the economy in Armenia. The main driving force of this sphere in Armenia is the banks. Digital transformation is a necessity for banks and financial institutions. At the moment, ACBA Bank is the leader․ |
Economy of Armenia | Industrial sector | Industrial sector
In 2017, industrial output increased by 12.6% annually reaching 1661 billion AMD.
Industrial output was relatively positive throughout 2010, with year-on-year average growth of 10.9 percent in the period January to September 2010, due largely to the mining sector where higher global demand for commodities led to higher prices. According to the National Statistical Service, during the January–August 2007 period, Armenia's industrial sector was the single largest contributor to the country's GDP, but remained largely stagnant with industrial output increasing only by 1.7 percent per year. In 2005, Armenia's industrial output (including electricity) made up about 30 percent of GDP."Government Downplays Economic Cost Of Russian Gas Price Hike" , Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), February 10, 2006. |
Economy of Armenia | Services sector | Services sector
In the 2000s, along with the construction sector, the services sector was the driving force behind Armenia's recent high economic growth rate.
Between 2017 and 2019, Armenia's economy increased fast, with annual rate of GDP growth averaging 6.8 percent. Following the political realignment of 2018, prudent macroeconomic policy helped develop a track record of macroeconomic stability and an enhanced business environment. In Armenia, the service sector in 2020 reduced volumes by 14.7%, against 15% growth a year earlier, amounting to 1.7 trillion drams ($3.5 billion). According to the Statistical Committee, a negative trend was recorded in all service segments except finance, as well as information and communication.
thumb|Headquarters of VivaCell MTS, Armenia's leading mobile services provider |
Economy of Armenia | Retail trade | Retail trade
In 2010, retail trade turnover was largely unaltered compared to 2009. The existing monopolies throughout the retail sector have made the sector non-responsive to the crisis and resulted in near zero growth. The aftermath of the crisis has started to shift the structure in the retail sector in favor of food products.
Nowadays(2019), Armenia has improved standards of living and growing income, which brought to the improvement of retail sector in Armenia. retail sector has the highest employment level. While the sector improves, currently the major sector is still in Yerevan, and not in the other cities of Armenia. The development that happened in this sector was the opening of Dalma Garden Mall, and later Yerevan mall, Rio mall and Rossia mall, which dramatically increased the quality of retail in Yerevan. Currently there is a new development, as in Gyumri there is a new mall opened called Shirak Mall. Another reason for the development of the retail is the development that happened in the banking industry. Today people can easily get financial assistance from the banks right to their credit cards, without visiting the bank. |
Economy of Armenia | Information and Communication Technologies | Information and Communication Technologies
As of February 2019 nearly 23 thousand employees were counted in ICT sector. With 404 thousand AMD they enjoyed highest pay rate among surveyed sectors of economy. Average salaries in pure IT sector (excluding communications sub-sector) stood at 582 thousand AMD. |
Economy of Armenia | Financial Services | Financial Services
In January 2019 there were 20.5 thousand employees registered in the financial sector.
According to Moody's, robust economic growth will benefit banks with GDP growth remaining robust at around 4.5% in 2019–20.
+
Development of Financial Services in 2017 according to CBA reportFinancial Services Segments20172016Banking systemNet profit39.7 billion AMD31.7 billion AMDReturn on assets (ROA)1.0%0.9%Return on equity (ROE)6.0%5.8%Assets growth rate9.2%Total capital growth rate4.9%Liabilities growth rate10.1%Loans provided to businesses growth rate8.5%General liquidity normative indicator (minimum 15%)32.1%Ongoing liquidity normative indicator (minimum 60%)141.7%Credit organizationsAssets growth rate21.1%Total capital growth rate41.4%Liabilities growth rate3.5%Insurance systemAssets growth rate6.1%Total capital growth rate –11%Liabilities growth rate11.2%Investment companiesAssets growth rate54.8%Total capital growth rate51.9%Liabilities growth rate55.3%Mandatory pension fundsNet assets growth rate67.0%Net assets105.6 billion AMD
Industry report on banking sector prepared by AmRating presents slightly varying figures for some of above data. |
Economy of Armenia | Tourism | Tourism
thumb|Grand Hotel Yerevan, established in 1926
Tourism in Armenia has been a key sector to the Armenian economy since the 1990s when tourist numbers exceeded half a million people visiting the country every year (mostly ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora). The Armenian Ministry of Economy reports that most international tourists come from Russia, EU states, the United States and Iran. Though relatively small in size, Armenia has three UNESCO world heritage sites.
Despite internal and external problems, the number of incoming tourists has been continually increasing. 2018 saw a record high of over 1.6 million inbound tourists.
In 2018 receipts from international tourism amounted to $1.2 billion, nearly twice the value for 2010. In per capita terms these stood at $413, ahead of Turkey and Azerbaijan, but behind Georgia.
In 2019 the largest growth at 27.2% was shown by accommodation and catering sector, which came as a result of the growth of tourist flows. |
Economy of Armenia | Financial system | Financial system |
Economy of Armenia | Foreign debt | Foreign debt
The amount of interest paid on the public debt rose significantly (from AMD 11 billion in 2008 to AMD 46.5 billion in 2013), as did the amount of principle repayments (from annual repayments of US$15–16 million in 2005-2008 exceeding US$150 million in 2013). This is a significant financial load on the state budget. Because of additional borrowings and lower concessionality of new loans, the burden might rise in the future years.
In 2019, the Armenian government planned to obtain about $490 million in fresh loans rising public debt to about $7.5 billion. Just over $6.9 billion of that would be the government's debt.
After reaching nearly 60.0 per cent of GDP, the public debt to GDP ratio decreased by approximately three percentage points in 2018 compared with a year before and stood at 55.7 per cent at the end of 2018.
The government's public debt at the end of 2019 stood at $6.94 billion, making 50.3% of its GDP.
In March 2019 sovereign debt was $5488 million, $86.5 million (about 2%) less than a year ago.
Other sources quote Armenia's debt at $10.8 billion in September 2018, possibly including non-public debt too.
In 2018 debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 55.7% down from 58.7% in 2017.
Armenia revised the country's fiscal rules in 2018, setting a permissible threshold for public debt in the amount of 40, 50 and 60% of GDP. At the same time, it established that in case of force majeure situations such as natural disasters, wars, the government will be allowed to exceed this threshold.
The debt rose by $863.5 million in 2016 and by another $832.5 million in 2017. It totalled just $1.9 billion before the 2008-2009 (13.5% of GDP) global financial crisis that plunged the county into a severe recession. |
Economy of Armenia | Exchange rate of national currency | Exchange rate of national currency
National Statistics Office publishes official reference exchange rates for each year. |
Economy of Armenia | Inflation | Inflation
For 2023 the IMF forecasts inflation at 3.5%, which is below most neighbouring countries.
The Armenian government projects inflation at 2.7% in 2019.
The inflation rate in Armenia in 2020 was 1.21 percent, a 0.23 percent decrease over 2019, in 2019 was 1.44 percent, a 1.08 percent decrease over 2018, in 2018 was 2.52 percent, up 1.55 percent from 2017 and in 2017 was 0.97 percent, a 2.37 percent rise from 2016. |
Economy of Armenia | Cash remittances | Cash remittances
thumb|Central Bank of Armenia's Educational Center in Dilijan
Cash remittances from Armenians working abroad — mostly in Russia and the United States — contribute significantly to Armenia's Gross Domestic Product making up 14% of GDP in 2018. They help Armenia sustain double-digit economic growth and finance its massive trade deficit.
In 2008 transfers reached record high of $2.3 billion. In 2015 they reached 10-year low at $1.6 billion. In 2018, they run at round $1.8 billion. $0.8 billion were transferred in first half of 2019. According to CBA their impact on economy is decreasing, as GDP grows at outperforming rate.
Net private transfers decreased in 2009, but saw a continuous increase during the first six months of 2010. Since private transfers from the Diaspora tend to be mostly injected into consumption of imports and not in high value-added sectors, the transfers have not resulted in sizeable increases in productivity.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, during the first half of 2008, cash remittances sent back to Armenia by Armenians working abroad rose by 57.5 percent and totaled US$668.6 million, equivalent to 15 percent of the country's first-half Gross Domestic Product."Cash Transfers To Armenia Jump To New High" , Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), August 5, 2008. However, the latter figures only represent cash remittances processed through Armenian commercial banks. According to RFE/RL, comparable sums are believed to be transferred through non-bank systems, implying that cash remittances make up approximately 30 percent of Armenia's GDP in the first half of 2008.
In 2007 cash remittances through bank transfers rose by 37 percent to a record-high level of US$1.32 billion. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, in 2005, cash remittances from Armenians working abroad reached a record-high level of $1 billion, which is worth more than one fifth of the country's 2005 GDP."Survey Highlights Armenia’s Lingering Unemployment" , Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), February 9, 2006. |
Economy of Armenia | Banking | Banking
thumb|Ameriabank headquarters in Yerevan
The central bank has set additional capital buffers in the banking sector. In force since April 2019, the regulator set three buffers exceeding the current capital adequacy requirement compliant with the Basel III regulation: a capital conservation buffer, a counter-cyclical capital buffer and a systemic risk buffer. Full implementation of the buffers over the course of the next few years will strengthen the financial sector's resistance to economic shocks and help increase the efficiency of macroprudential policies.
Armenian banks' lending grew by 10 percent in 2019. |
Economy of Armenia | Microfinance | Microfinance
The establishment of Microfinance institutions in Armenia was dependent on them making a complementary effort to fill the gap in the financial services sector. Its primary goal was to deal with the rising unemployment and poverty brought on by transitory shock. In this context, self-employment in the country emerged as one of the best options to unemployment. Commercial banking institutions in Armenia overlooked micro-business enterprises that lacked credit histories and sufficient funding. Microfinance has been proposed as an adaptable instrument to assist people in transition economies take advantage of new opportunities. |
Economy of Armenia | Government revenues and taxation | Government revenues and taxation |
Economy of Armenia | Government revenues | Government revenues
In August 2019 Moody's Investors Service upgraded Armenia to Ba3 rating with stable outlook.
According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia's government debt stood at AMD 3.1 trillion (about $6,4 billion, including $5,1 billion of external debt) as of November 30, 2017. Armenia's debt-to-GDP ratio will drop by 1% in 2018 according to finance minister.
In Armenia's external debt ($5.5 billion as of January 1, 2018), the arrears for multi-country credit programs dominate – 66.2% or $3.6 billion, followed by debt on bilateral loan programs - 17.5% or $958.9 million and investments of non-residents in Armenian Eurobonds – 15,4% or $844.9 million.
For the whole Armenian economy and international commerce, 2020 was a year of decline. In a variety of areas Armenian commodities are being exported and imported at a lower rate. According to the Armenian Statistical Committee, Armenia exported goods worth $2.544 billion in 2020, a fall of 3.9 percent from 2019. Armenia imported items worth 4.559 billion dollars in 2020, down 17.7% from the previous year.The volume of Armenia's international trade has varied throughout the previous 10 years. |
Economy of Armenia | Taxation | Taxation |
Economy of Armenia | Employee income tax | Employee income tax
From January 1, 2020, Armenia will switch to a flat income taxation system, which, regardless of the amount will tax wages at 23%. Moreover, until 2023 the taxation rate will gradually decrease from 23% to 20%. |
Economy of Armenia | Corporate income tax | Corporate income tax
The reform adopted in June 2019 aims to boost medium-term economic activity and to increase tax compliance. Among other measures, the corporate income tax was reduced by two percentage points to 18.0 per cent and the tax on dividends for non-resident organisations halved to 5.0 per cent. |
Economy of Armenia | Special taxation for small business | Special taxation for small business
From January 1, 2020, the republic will abandon two alternative tax systems - self-employed and family entrepreneurship. They will be replaced by micro-entrepreneurship with a non-taxable threshold of up to 24 million drams. Business entities that carry out specialized activities, in particular, accounting, advocacy, and consulting will not be considered as micro-business entities. Micro business will be exempted from all types of taxes other than income tax, which will be 5 thousand drams per employee. |
Economy of Armenia | Value-added tax | Value-added tax
Over half of the tax revenues in January–August 2008 were generated from value-added taxes (VAT) of 20%. By comparison, corporate profit tax generated less than 16 percent of the revenues."Government Keeps Up Strong Growth In Tax Revenues" , Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), October 14, 2008. This suggests that tax collection in Armenia is improving at the expense of ordinary citizens, rather than wealthy citizens (who have been the main beneficiaries of Armenia's double-digit economic growth in recent years).
VAT (Value Added Tax): In Armenia, VAT-paying individuals subtract the VAT paid on their inputs from the VAT levied on their sales and account to the tax authorities for the difference. The standard rate of VAT on domestic sales of goods and services, as well as imports importation, is 20%. Exports of products and services are not taxed. |
Economy of Armenia | Foreign trade, direct investments, and aid | Foreign trade, direct investments, and aid |
Economy of Armenia | Foreign trade | Foreign trade |
Economy of Armenia | Exports | Exports
According to the National Statistical Committee, in 2018, exports amounted to $2.411.9 billion, having grown by 7.8% from the previous year. After a boom of almost 93% in 2022, the IMF expects exports of goods and services to grow by 22% in 2023 and 8% in 2024.
The goods export structure changed considerably in 2018 as the export of the traditional mining sector decreased while the share of textiles, agriculture and precious metals increased.
Geographical location of the country and relatively low electricity costs are comparative advantages supporting to boost the production of the textile and leather products in Armenia. Proximity to Europe in comparison with manufacturers in East Asia creates opportunity to strengthen Armenia's position as contract manufacturing destination for European brands. Foreign companies that put orders to Armenian companies are mainly famous European brands, particularly, from Italy (La Perla, SARTIS, VERSACE etc.) and Germany (LEBEK International Fashion, KUBLER Bekleidungswerk). With the Armenia's entry into Eurasian Economic Commission, the opportunity to increase its presence with textile and leather production raised also in the countries of Eurasian Economic Commission as no customs duty applies to Armenian products in the export markets within the customs union.
According to the study "Regional and International Trade of Armenia", authors investigated the trade potential of Armenia for different product groups by employing a gravity model of trade approach. The study explored Armenia's trade flows to 139 countries for the period of 2003 to 2007. According to the results of the paper, the authors concluded that "Armenia has exceeded its export potential almost with all the CIS countries". In addition, the authors concluded that the most perspective product groups of Armenian export tend to be "Industrial products", "Food and beverages" and "Consumer goods". On the other hand, the paper "The effects of exchange rate volatility on exports: evidence from Armenia" analyzes the effect of Armenian floating exchange rate regime and exchange rate volatility on Armenian exports to Russia. According to the paper exchange rate volatility has long-run and short-run negative effects on exports. Moreover, authors stated that high exchange rate risk resulted in decreasing exports to Russia.
According to most recent (2019 Jan-Feb compared to 2018 Jan-Feb) ArmStat calculations, biggest growth in export quantities was measured towards Turkmenistan by 23.6 times (from $37K to $912K), Estonia by 15 times (from $8.4K to $136.5K) and Canada by 11.5 times (from $623K to $7.8 mln). Meanwhile, exports to Russia, Germany, USA and UAE dropped. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.