Armenia’s GDP Up 10.3% In H1

ARMENIA’S GDP UP 10.3% IN H1

Interfax News Agency
July 31 2008
Russia

Armenia’s GDP in January-June went up 10.3% year-on-year to 1.323
trillion dram (301.03 dram/$1 on July 31, 2008) in the first half of
2008, the National Statistics Service said.

The increase in GDP was driven largely by 14% growth in the
construction sector in the six months to 232 billion dram. The service
sector expanded 16.2% year-on-year to 324 billion dram. Total retail
operations went up 5% to 413 billion dram while agriculture expanded
8.1% to 133.4 billion dram.

Electricity output increased 2% to 3.919 billion kilowatt hours while
industrial production shrank by 0.2% to 357 billion dram.

The average monthly wage in Armenian went up 20% to 86,615 dram in
the first quarter.

Armenia’s foreign trade in the first half went up 28.9% to 747.3
billion dram, of which exports accounted for 160.2 billion dram
(a decrease of 0.8%). Imports accounted for 587.1 billion dram (an
increase of 40.3%).