ArmInfo. In Armenia, economic activity growth accelerated to 7.9% annually in the first half of 2026 (from 6.3% in the same period of 2025). Moreover, the industrial sector, having managed to reach double-digit growth from the decline, 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 is still in decline, but only slightly, in contrast to the significant decline a year ago.
According to statistics, the acceleration of economic activity in the first half of 2026 was driven by improved annual growth in the industrial sector, which rose from a 12.1% decline to 10.8%, and accelerated growth in the construction sector, from 18.5% to 24.5%. Growth in the energy sector accelerated significantly, from 4% to 7.7%. Meanwhile, the leading trade sector by volume continued to decline, from 3.9% to 0.9%. Meanwhile, the service sector, which ranks second by volume, accelerated its growth from 9.8% to 11%. The agricultural sector's performance worsened, reversing from 7.3% growth to a double-digit 11.9% decline.
According to statistics for the first half of 2026, the trade sector retains its leadership in absolute terms, with a volume of 3.2 trillion rubles. AMD ($8.4 billion). The services sector ranks second in terms of volume, with AMD 2.2 trillion ($5.7 billion), followed by the industrial sector, with AMD 1.5 trillion ($4.1 billion). Fourth place goes to the agricultural sector, with AMD 310.1 billion ($828.3 million), and fifth to the construction sector, with AMD 282.2 billion ($754 million). Electricity generation in the first half of 2026 amounted to 4,657.5 million kWh, of which 663.5 million kWh came in June alone.
Moreover, in June 2026 compared to June 2025, economic activity growth slowed from 8.6% to 7.7%, with growth in June alone stalling from 9.9% to 4.4% (compared to an acceleration of growth in June 2025 from 5.4% to 8.8%). Moreover, in June 2026, the dynamics of the industrial sector worsened from 1.2% growth to a 3.1% decline, while a year earlier in the same month there was an imperceptible slowdown in growth from 2.9% to 2.5%. At the same time, growth in the construction sector stalled in June of this year - from 27.2% to 19.5%, and in the service sector - from 6.9% to 5.7%. At the same time, the improvement in dynamics for June of this year The trade sector experienced a 6.3% recovery from a 1.6% decline, and the energy sector experienced a 1% recovery from a 2.3% decline.
On a year-over-year basis (June 2026 to June 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 of 25.4%, followed by double-digit growth in the services sector (19.7%) and the energy sector (7.7%). The industrial sector was able to recover from the recession with 4% growth. A year earlier, in June 2025 compared to June 2024, with the exception of the industrial sector, which fell by 1.2%, other sectors maintained growth: the construction sector - 22.6%, the service sector - 8.2%, the energy complex - 6.6% and the trade sector - 2.8%.
Against this backdrop, Armenia's foreign trade turnover in the first half of 2026 amounted to 3.6 trillion drams ($9.6 billion), a decline of only 0.1% year-on-year (compared to a 45% decline a year ago). This significant slowdown in the decline was due to an improvement in import dynamics, from a 38.6% decline to 4% growth, and a noticeable slowdown in export decline from 52.8% to 6.7%. As a result, the absolute value of exports for the first half of 2026 amounted to 1.3 trillion drams ($3.4 billion), while imports amounted to 2.3 trillion drams ($6.1 billion).
In June 2026, compared to June 2025, foreign trade turnover also remained in decline, but also with a slowdown in growth, from 16.6% to 3.3%. Specifically, the improvement in import dynamics, with a 17.1% decline to 8.6% growth, was accompanied by an acceleration in the decline in exports, from 15.9% to 20.5%.
In June of this year alone, foreign trade turnover rebounded from a 3.4% decline to 7.3% growth. As a result of a similar improvement in both export and import dynamics, the decline from a 3.5-3.4% decline to 5-8.5% growth. A year earlier, in June 2025, a similar picture was observed, but then foreign trade growth was more noticeable - 9.4% - and was driven largely by a double-digit 23.6% increase in exports, rather than a mere 0.9% increase. Compared to double-digit declines of 14.8%, 19%, and 12%, respectively, in May 2025.
Starting in 2023, the methodology for calculating electricity generation volumes in statistical reports has changed; in particular, the volume of electricity generated by autonomous generators has now been included. For the agricultural sector, data is published only in quarterly and annual statistical reports. (The average dram exchange rate in the first half of 2026 was 374.32 drams per US dollar, compared to 391.31 drams per US dollar a year ago.)
