ArmInfo. The EU's share of Armenia's foreign trade increased to 17.8% in the first half of 2026 (from 12.1% a year ago), while the EAEU's share decreased to 29.4% (from 36.3% a year ago). According to data from the RA Statistics Committee, foreign trade turnover with the EU accelerated year-on-year from 9.5% to 46.2%, reaching $1.7 billion, while with the EAEU, it slowed from 53.7% to 19%, reaching $2.8 billion. Moreover, among the EAEU countries, only Russia recorded a decline in trade, while most EU countries chose to increase their volumes-including Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Slovakia, Hungary, and Portugal-many of them significantly.
In particular, the share of the EAEU in exports increased from 37.5% to 38.6% (due to the Russian Federation - 34.8% to 35.8%), and the share of the EU - from 7.8% to 15%. While in imports, the share of the EAEU decreased from 35.5% to 24.3% (due to the Russian Federation - 34.6% to 22.8%), and the share of the EU increased from 14.8% to 19.2%. The share coverage of the remaining countries, representing the leading five, changed as follows: China increased its share in exports from 7.8% to 15.3% and maintained its share in imports at 15.4%; the UAE significantly reduced its share in exports from 29.6% to 8.2% and further reduced its meager share in imports from 0.7% to 0.4%; Germany increased its share of both exports from 1.4% to 1.6% and imports from 2.8% to 3.8%. Bulgaria increased its share of exports more significantly, from 0.8% to 5.2%, than its share of imports, from 0.2% to 0.7%. The United States continued to increase its share of imports from 2.6% to 3.9%, while slightly decreasing its share of exports from 0.7% to 0.6%. Iraq reduced its share of exports from 4.7% to 5.2%, while remaining a meager 0.02% of imports. Iran increased its share of imports from 5% to 5.3%, while maintaining its share of exports at 1.2%.
The top five exporters are Russia, China, the UAE, Bulgaria, and Iraq, with a total volume of $2.4 billion. For imports, the top five are Russia, China, Iran, the United States, and Germany, with a total volume of over $3.1 billion. Both exports and imports are declining for Russia and the UAE. For China, a significant increase in exports is accompanied by a sharp slowdown in import growth. For Germany, a sharp slowdown in export growth is observed, while imports are recovering from a decline to high growth. For the United States, an acceleration in the decline in exports is accompanied by a recovery in imports from a decline to high double-digit growth. For Bulgaria, both exports and imports have jumped several-fold. For Iraq, a sharply decelerated export growth is accompanied by an accelerating, several-fold increase in imports. For Iran, a slowdown in the decline in exports is observed, while double-digit growth in imports is accelerating.
The share of Armenia's top five trading partners-Russia, China, Iran, the UAE, and Germany-decreased from 65% or $6.3 billion in January-April 2026 to a combined 53% of total foreign trade turnover (from 65% or $6.3 billion in the first half of 2025), amounting to $5.1 billion in absolute terms. Two of them, Russia and the UAE, continued to decline by 20.9% and 72.8%, respectively (compared to 54.8% and 69.4% last year). Meanwhile, foreign trade volumes with China and Germany grew by 22.9% and 32.5% (from a decline of 15% and 3.3% a year ago), while growth with Iran accelerated from 6% to 8.4%.
It's worth noting that among the EAEU countries, foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Kyrgyzstan increased significantly, with significant growth observed in both imports and exports. Armenia's foreign trade growth with Belarus and Kazakhstan is supported by a significant increase in imports from these countries. Armenia's foreign trade turnover with the CIS countries has increased significantly, both in terms of exports and imports, with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This is also reflected in Armenia's foreign trade with Ukraine, driven by strong import activity and significantly increased exports.
Overall, Armenia's foreign trade turnover for the first half of 2026 reached $9.6 billion, with a significant slowdown in the annual decline from 45% to 0.1%. Specifically, import dynamics improved, returning from a 38.6% decline to a 4% growth rate, while the decline in exports slowed significantly, from 52.8% to 6.7%, reaching $6.1 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.
According to the June 2026 update, According to the Central Bank of Armenia's forecast, the dynamics of exports and imports, after accelerating the decline in 2025 from 11-3.2% to 29.5- 32.7%, will remain in decline in 2026, with growth rates slowing to 5.9-5.1% (for exports) and 4.2-5.8% (for imports). The previous March forecast expected a resumption of growth in both exports to 25.5-28.5% and imports to 36.7-34.9%. The Central Bank now expects a resumption of growth in foreign trade in 2027: exports by 2.6-4.3% and imports by 1.1-0.8%. In its June forecast, the International Monetary Fund indicated a modest improvement in Armenia's export and import dynamics in 2026, expecting a recovery from a double-digit decline to very weak and almost flat growth of 0.9-0.7% (versus the previously projected 2.2-2.1%). However, the IMF significantly revised up its forecast for export and import growth in 2027 to 5.5-6.3% (versus the previously projected 3.4-3.7%).
