Despite significant growth in Armenia's foreign trade turnover, a notable slowdown in growth rates emerged towards the end of 2024. While figures doubled in the first half of the year, growth from January to October amounted to 54%, reaching $28.2 billion, according to data from the country's Statistical Committee.
In November, trade turnover even declined by 27.4% compared to the same month in 2023.
Russia remains Armenia's primary trading partner, with a turnover of $11.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, marking a 71.6% increase. A major breakthrough occurred in trade with the UAE, where turnover increased 3.5 times to $5.1 billion. China secured third place with $2.6 billion, reflecting growth of 37.9%.
In contrast, trade with the European Union showed a decline of 14.1%, amounting to $2.1 billion. Among European partners, Germany led with a turnover of $444 million, followed by Italy at $382 million and the Netherlands at $167 million. Notably, most European countries demonstrated negative trade dynamics with Armenia.
Armenia's exports, totaling $12.3 billion in the first 11 months, were dominated by precious and semi-precious stones, precious metals, and related products, which grew 3.6 times to $7.7 billion. Significant contributions also came from machinery and equipment ($1.2 billion), mining products ($941 million), and processed food products ($860 million).
Imports to Armenia reached $15.9 billion, with the majority coming from Russia ($8.9 billion). The import structure was similarly dominated by precious metals and stones ($7 billion), machinery and equipment ($2.5 billion), and mining products ($1 billion).
Experts attribute the slowdown in growth rates to the overall stabilization of trade flows following a period of sharp increases earlier in the year.
