ArmInfo. The extreme poverty rate in Armenia continues to decline, as stated by RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan on June 11 during a joint session of the RA National Assembly committees, where the implementation of the 2025 state budget was being discussed.
According to him, the extreme poverty rate in the country decreased from 1.1% to 0.6% last year. "This positive trend is due to the improvement in macroeconomic indicators recorded in Armenia in recent years, economic growth, and the implementation of targeted social policies," the speaker noted. He added that approximately 21.1 billion drams were allocated for the "Support for Needy and Disadvantaged Social Groups" program in 2025, achieving 92% of its implementation. Program expenditures decreased by 12.1%, or 2.9 billion drams, compared to the previous year.
Overall, the minister noted, the Ministry's activities in 2025 were aimed at continuously developing the social protection system, improving the availability and quality of social services, ensuring support for vulnerable groups, and implementing the priorities set by the government program and sectoral strategies. Specifically, during the reporting period, the Ministry implemented 17 budget programs and 106 events. A total of 905.6 billion drams were allocated from the state budget for the implementation of these programs. As a result of adjustments made during the year, the budget amounted to 900.8 billion drams, actual expenditures amounted to 874.1 billion drams, and the plan fulfillment under the adjusted budget was 97%. This figure exceeded the previous year's figure by 2.5 percent, or 21.6 billion drams.
Expenditures on benefits aimed at improving family living standards amounted to approximately 20.6 billion drams, a 13.3% decrease compared to the previous year. In 2025, 50,584 families received benefits, compared to the planned 50,200.
Approximately 74.3 billion drams from the state budget were allocated to the "Improving the Demographic Situation" program, accounting for 97.9% of the program's target. In 2025, 60,582 citizens received childcare benefits for children under 2 years of age. Expenditures amounted to 28 billion drams.
