ArmInfo.In Armenia, economic activity growth accelerated to 7.7% annually in January-July 2026 (from 7.1% in the same period of 2025). Moreover, the industrial sector, having managed to turn from recession to growth, has recovered as one of the drivers of economic growth.
According to preliminary data from the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, foreign trade also returned to growth, supported mainly by an upward trend in imports and, in part, a sharp slowdown in the decline in exports. According to statistics, the acceleration of economic activity in January-July 2026 was driven by improved annual growth in the industrial sector, which rose from a 9.8% decline to 9.5% growth, and accelerated growth in the construction sector, from 20.2% to 25%. Growth in the energy sector also accelerated, from 5.6% to 6.9%. Meanwhile, the leading trade sector by volume continued to decline in growth, from 4.2% to a nearly stagnant 0.8%. Meanwhile, the service sector, which ranks second by volume, accelerated in growth from 10.6% to 13.2%.
According to statistics for January-July 2026, the trade sector retained the lead in absolute terms, with a volume of 3.8 trillion drams ($10.1 billion). The services sector ranks second in volume, with 2.6 trillion drams ($10.1 billion). AMD ($6.9 billion), the third is the industrial sector - 1.8 trillion AMD ($4.8 billion). The fourth position, due to the absence of data from the agricultural sector in the report for this period, is occupied by the construction sector - 369.2 billion AMD ($989.2 million). The volume of electricity generation in January-July 2026 amounted to 5448.7 million kWh, of which 791.3 million kWh in July alone.
At the same time, in July 2026 compared to July 2025, economic activity growth slowed from 8.9% to 6.5%, with growth accelerating imperceptibly in July alone from 4.4% to 4.6% (compared to a growth slowdown in July 2025 from 8.8% to 5.3%). In particular, in July 2026, the industrial sector dynamics moved from a 3.1% decline to 5.5% growth, while a year earlier in the same month there was a noticeable acceleration in growth from 2.5% to 7.4%. At the same time, growth in the construction sector stalled in July of this year - from 19.5% to 16.1%, and in the service sector - from 5.7% to 2.8%. At the same time, the trade sector in July of this year Growth accelerated imperceptibly, from 6.3% to 7%, while the energy sector accelerated from 1.6% to a double-digit 19.3%.
On a year-over-year basis (July 2026 to July 2025), all sectors demonstrated an upward trend, except for the trade sector, which declined by 0.1%. Specifically, the construction sector demonstrated the highest annual growth rate at 26.5%, followed by the services sector at slightly lower rates at 17%. The industrial sector followed in terms of annual growth rates at 3.1% and the energy sector at 2.4%. A year earlier, in July 2025 to July 2024, all sectors were growing: the construction sector by 26.1%, the energy sector by 14.8%, the services sector by 11.1%, the industrial sector by 4.2%, and the trade sector by 3%. Against this backdrop, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in January-July 2026 amounted to 4.3 trillion drams ($11.5 billion), an increase of 1.7% year-on-year (compared to a 42% decline a year ago). This was due to an improvement in import dynamics, from a 35.8% decline to 7.7% growth, and a significant slowdown in export decline, from 49.6% to 7.9%. As a result, the absolute value of exports for January-July 2026 amounted to 1.5 trillion drams ($4 billion), while imports amounted to 2.8 trillion drams ($7.5 billion).
In July 2026, compared to July 2025, foreign trade turnover also recovered from a 16.1% decline to a 6.7% increase. Specifically, the improvement in import dynamics, with a 16.5% decline to 21.5% growth, was accompanied by an acceleration in the decline in exports from 15.4% to 15.7%. In July of this year alone, foreign trade turnover accelerated from 7.3% to 9.2%, as a result of a more significant acceleration in import growth from 8.5% to a double-digit 11.1% than in exports, from 5% to 5.3%. A year earlier, in July 2025, foreign trade dynamics had only just reached a modest 0.1% increase, driven by a 3.7% increase in imports and a slowdown in the decline in exports to 4.8%.
It should be noted that, starting in 2023, the methodology for calculating electricity generation volumes in statistical reports has changed; in particular, the volume of electricity generated by independent generators has now been included. For the agricultural sector, data is published only in quarterly and annual statistical reports. (The average exchange rate for the dram in January-July 2026 was 373.26 drams per US dollar.)
