The Eurasian Development Bank's (EDB) Macroeconomic Review highlights a significant increase in Armenia's foreign trade volumes in the first half of 2024.
Exports surged by 2.3 times compared to the same period last year, largely driven by the ramped-up production and export of precious metals and gold products.
Precious stones and metals now account for 71% of Armenia's export structure, showing an 8.1-fold increase from January to June. Imports also rose by 81.6%, primarily due to the import of precious stones and metals for processing and subsequent export.
However, EDB analysts note that when excluding the impact of precious metals trade, both import and export dynamics from January to June were negative. This indicates that Armenia's trade growth heavily relies on one sector of the economy.
Earlier, BMG reported that according to Armenia's Statistical Committee, the country's foreign trade turnover reached an impressive $18.4 billion in the first half of 2024.
Russia solidified its position as the leading trade partner, increasing its share in Armenia's foreign trade turnover to 45.4% ($8.4 billion), marking a 2.5-fold increase compared to the previous year. The United Arab Emirates showed a remarkable 7.5-fold increase in trade turnover, reaching $3.7 billion. China ranked third with a turnover of $1.4 billion, reflecting a 41.9% increase.
Notably, trade with the European Union decreased by 23.7% to $1 billion, accounting for only 5.7% of Armenia's total foreign trade turnover.
Experts point out that the sharp rise in trade with the UAE is largely due to the re-export of Russian diamonds and gold through Armenia, made possible by parallel import and export mechanisms activated after Western sanctions were imposed on Russia.
