According to the consulting company Modex, by the end of 2023, the number of employees hired or working on contracts in the field of information technology (IT) in Armenia had increased to 33,980 people. This is 61.9% more than at the beginning of 2022.
The 61.9% increase is largely due to the influx of foreign specialists, particularly citizens of Russia, according to the study.
The research showed that the share of foreigners in the total number of hired workers in the IT sector increased from 4.1% in January 2022 to 27.3% by December 2023. During this period, the number of Armenian citizens working in this field increased by approximately 3,700. By the end of 2022, there were also 2,653 individual entrepreneurs in the sector who did not have hired workers, and this number reached 4,834 by the end of 2023.
Of the foreign specialists working in the IT sector in Armenia, 89% were citizens of Russia, 3% were from Iran, and 2% were from Belarus. Interestingly, the number of Russian citizens working in this field peaked in June 2023 at 8,613 people and then gradually decreased to 8,262 people by the end of the year.
The study also showed that the majority of foreign specialists, especially those from Russia, work in relocated companies that, however, do not attract a significant number of local specialists and essentially operate separately from Armenia's IT community.
Earlier, BMG reported that the turnover of Armenia's IT sector in 2023 amounted to 837 billion drams ($2.12 billion), which is 252 billion drams (over $630 million) or 43% more than in 2022. Approximately 87%, or 755 billion drams ($1.91 billion), of the IT sector's turnover was realized in external markets (i.e., exported), while 13%, or 114 billion drams, was in the domestic market.
