Azerbaijan over the
ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the breakup
of the centrally directed economic system of the former Soviet Union
contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By
1994, however, the Armenian Government had launched an ambitious
IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in
positive growth rates in 1995-2003. Armenia joined the WTO in
January 2003. Armenia also has managed to slash inflation, stabilize
the local currency (the dram), and privatize most small- and
medium-sized enterprises. The chronic energy shortages Armenia
suffered in the early and mid-1990s have been offset by the energy
supplied by one of its nuclear power plants at Metsamor. Armenia is
now a net energy exporter, although it does not have sufficient
generating capacity to replace Metsamor, which is under
international pressure to close. The electricity distribution system
was privatized in 2002. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been
offset somewhat by international aid and foreign direct investment.
Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy
sector.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$13.65 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 22.9%
industry: 36.1%
services: 41.1% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
1.4 million (2001)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 45%, industry 25%, services 30% (2002 est.)

Unemployment rate:
30% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line:
50% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 46.2% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
44.4 (1996)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $428.1 million
expenditures: $491.2 million, including capital expenditures of NA
(2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock

Industries:
diamond-processing, metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing
machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk
fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, jewelry
manufacturing, software development, food processing, brandy

Industrial production growth