The 2003 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

overview: Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy. Since the implosion of the USSR in December 1991, Armenia has switched to small-scale agriculture away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. The agricultural sector has long-term needs for more investment and updated technology. The privatization of industry has been at a slower pace, but has been given renewed emphasis by the current administration. Armenia is a food importer, and its mineral deposits (copper, gold, bauxite) are small. The ongoing conflict with 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 program that has resulted in positive growth rates in 1995–2003. 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, domestic restructuring of the economy, and foreign direct investment. Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector.

      GDP:

       purchasing power parity - $12.13 billion (2002 est.)

      GDP - real growth rate:

       12.9% (2002 est.)

      GDP - per capita:

       purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2002 est.)

      GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 30% industry: 26% services: 44% (2001 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):

       1.1% (2002 est.)

      Labor force:

       1.4 million (2001)

      Labor force - by occupation:

       agriculture 45%, services 30%, industry 25% (2002 est.)

      Unemployment rate:

       20% (2001 est.)

      Budget:

       revenues: $402 million

       expenditures: $482 million, including capital expenditures of $NA

       (2001 est.)

      Industries:

       metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric

       motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals,

       trucks, instruments, microelectronics, gem cutting, jewelry

       manufacturing, software development, food processing, brandy

      Industrial production growth rate:

       15% (2002 est.)

      Electricity - production:

       6.479 billion kWh (2001)

      Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 42.3% hydro: 27% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 30.7%

      Electricity - consumption: 5.784 billion kWh (2001)

      Electricity - exports: 704 million kWh; note - exports an unknown quantity to Georgia; includes exports to Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan (2001)

      Electricity - imports:

       463 million kWh; note - imports an unknown quantity from Iran (2001)

      Oil - production:

       0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

      Oil - consumption:

       5,700 bbl/day (2001 est.)

      Oil - exports:

       NA (2001)

      Oil - imports:

       NA (2001)

      Natural gas - production:

       0 cu m (2001 est.)

      Natural gas - consumption:

       1.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)

      Natural gas - exports:

       0 cu m (2001 est.)

      Natural gas - imports:

       1.4 billion cu m (2001 est.)

      Agriculture - products:

       fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock

      Exports:

       $525 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)

      Exports - commodities:

       diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy

      Exports - partners:

       Belgium 21.5%, Russia 14.6%, Israel 10.3%, Iran 9.4%, US 8.2%,

       Switzerland 6.8%, Germany 6.2% (2002)

      Imports:

       $991 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)

      Imports - commodities:

       natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds

      Imports - partners:

       US 15.3%, Russia 12.9%, Belgium 12.3%, Iran 10.3%, UAE 6.3%,

       Germany 5.5%, Italy 4.9% (2002)

      Debt - external:

       $905 million (June 2001)

      Economic aid - recipient:

       ODA $170 million (2000)

      Currency:

       dram (AMD)

      Currency code:

       AMD

      Exchange rates:

       drams per US dollar - NA (2002), 555.08 (2001), 539.53 (2000),

       535.06 (1999), 504.92 (1998)

      Fiscal year:

       calendar year

      Communications Armenia

      Telephones - main lines in use:

       600,000 (2002)

      Telephones - mobile cellular:

       50,000 (2002)

      Telephone system:

       general assessment: system inadequate; now 90% privately owned and

       undergoing modernization and expansion

       domestic: the majority of subscribers and the most modern equipment

       are in Yerevan (this includes paging and mobile cellular service)

       international: Yerevan is connected to the Trans-Asia-Europe

       fiber-optic cable through Iran; additional international service is

       available by microwave radio relay and landline connections to the

       other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and

       through the Moscow international switch and by satellite to the rest

       of the world; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (2000)

      Radio broadcast stations:

       AM 9, FM 6, shortwave 1 (1998)

      Radios:

       850,000 (1997)

      Television broadcast stations: