By the end of 2023, Armenia's poverty rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points, reaching 23.7%, according to a new report by the country's Statistical Committee, which highlights steady improvements in socio-economic indicators.
The most significant progress was observed in extreme poverty, which declined to just 1.1% of the population. Urban areas showed particularly notable improvement, with the extreme poverty rate at only 0.5%, half the level observed in rural regions.
The statistics reveal a marked disparity between urban and rural poverty rates. In urban areas, the poverty rate stands at 21.5%, compared to 27% in rural regions. This gap, as noted by ARKA news agency, is attributed to differences in job availability and economic opportunities.
The report also emphasizes the issue of child poverty. While there has been slight progress—extreme poverty among children fell from 1.9% to 1.8%, and overall child poverty decreased from 32.3% to 31.7%—these figures remain a significant concern.
An important indicator of social well-being is the Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality. In 2023, Armenia saw improvements in this metric: the consumption-based Gini coefficient decreased from 0.239 to 0.230, and the income-based Gini dropped from 0.352 to 0.348, signaling a gradual reduction in social inequality.
For context, the extreme poverty threshold in 2023 was set at approximately $75.5, while the average poverty line was around $135.8.
