The Armenian government’s Statistical Committee, recorded a 4.1 percent rate of “economic activity” in this period. The macroeconomic indicator does not take account of agriculture and tends to be higher than the GDP growth rate.
The Armenian economy grew by 5.9 percent last year, down from 8.3 percent in 2023 and 12.6 percent in 2022. The government forecast late last year a 5.1 percent growth rate for 2025.
The slowdown is widely attributed to dwindling positive knock-on effects of Western sanctions against Russia. Armenian entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the sanctions by re-exporting many Western-manufactured goods to Russia. This was the main driving force behind the robust growth in 2022 and 2023.
The Statistical Committee reported continued strong gains in trade, other services as well as construction in January-February 2025. But the country’s manufacturing output shrunk by as much as 19.4 percent primarily because of drastic decreases in the production of base metals, metal ores and beverages.
Despite the slowing growth, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian was cited as telling a senior official from the International Monetary Fund earlier this week that “economic activity trends persist in the first quarter of the year.” Pashinian said his government is taking steps “aimed at ensuring sustainable economic growth” in the country.
In its five-year policy program approved by the Armenian parliament in 2021, the government pledged to ensure that the domestic economy expands by 7 percent annually.