!!!Armenia: Economy
Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics, in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Armenia has only two open trade borders - Iran and Georgia - because its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey have been closed since 1991 and 1993, respectively, as a result of Armenia's ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. \\  \\ Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government has made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures have been ineffective. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms and strengthen the rule of law in order to regain economic growth and improve economic competitiveness and employment opportunities, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. \\  \\ Armenia's geographic isolation, a narrow export base, and pervasive monopolies in important business sectors have made it particularly vulnerable to the sharp deterioration in the global economy and the economic downturn in Russia. Armenia is particularly dependent on Russian commercial and governmental support and most key Armenian infrastructure is Russian-owned and/or managed, especially in the energy sector, including electricity and natural gas. Remittances from expatriates working in Russia are equivalent to about 20% of GDP and partly offset the country's severe trade imbalance. Armenia joined Russia in the Eurasian Economic Union upon the bloc's launch in January 2015, even though the ruble's sharp depreciation in December 2014 led to currency instability, inflation, and a significant decrease in exports from Armenia to Russia.
!!Economic Facts
||GDP (purchasing power parity)|$26.56 billion (2016 est.) \\ $25.73 billion (2015 est.) \\ $24.97 billion (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||GDP (official exchange rate)|$10.75 billion (2015 est.)
||GDP - real growth rate|3.2% (2016 est.) \\ 3% (2015 est.) \\ 3.6% (2014 est.)
||GDP - per capita (PPP)|$8,900 (2016 est.) \\ $8,600 (2015 est.) \\ $8,400 (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||Gross national saving|18.1% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 18.3% of GDP (2015 est.) \\ 13.2% of GDP (2014 est.)
||GDP - composition, by end use|''household consumption'': 72.5% \\ ''government consumption'': 13.9% \\ ''investment in fixed capital'': 20% \\ ''investment in inventories'': 2.5% \\ ''exports of goods and services'': 31.6% \\ ''imports of goods and services'': -40.5% (2016 est.) \\ 
||GDP - composition, by sector of origin|''agriculture'': 19.6% \\ ''industry'': 29.1% \\ ''services'': 51.3% (2016 est.) \\ 
||Agriculture - products|fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock
||Industries|diamond processing, metal-cutting machine tools, forging and pressing machines, electric motors, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, jewelry, software, food processing, brandy, mining
||Industrial production growth rate|4.2% (2016 est.)
||Labor force|1.559 million (2016 est.)
||Labor force - by occupation|''agriculture'': 39% \\ ''industry'': 17% \\ ''services'': 44% (2011 est.) \\ 
||Unemployment rate|18.1% (2016 est.)
||Population below poverty line|32% (2013 est.)
||Household income or consumption by percentage share|''lowest 10%'': 3.7% \\ ''highest 10%'': 24.8% (2012) \\ 
||Distribution of family income - Gini index|30.3 (2012) \\ 31.3 (2011)
||Budget|''revenues'': $2.445 billion \\ ''expenditures'': $2.969 billion (2016 est.) \\ 
||Taxes and other revenues|22.7% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)|-4.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Public debt|53.4% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 48.8% of GDP (2015 est.)
||Fiscal year|calendar year
||Inflation rate (consumer prices)|-0.4% (2016 est.) \\ 3.7% (2015 est.)
||Central bank discount rate|10.5% (10 February 2015) \\ 8% (11 January 2012) \\ ''__note__'': this is the Refinancing Rate, the key monetary policy instrument of the Armenian National Bank \\ 
||Commercial bank prime lending rate|17.5% (31 December 2016 est.) \\ 17.59% (31 December 2015 est.) \\ ''__note__'': average lending rate on loans up to one year \\ 
||Stock of narrow money|$1.178 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $1.149 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of broad money|$1.949 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $1.779 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of domestic credit|$5.307 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $5.022 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Market value of publicly traded shares|$132.1 million (31 December 2012 est.) \\ $139.6 million (31 December 2011 est.) \\ $144.8 million (31 December 2010 est.)
||Current account balance|-$267 million (2016 est.) \\ -$279 million (2015 est.)
||Exports|$1.678 billion (2016 est.) \\ $1.626 billion (2015 est.)
||Exports - commodities|pig iron, unwrought copper, nonferrous metals, gold, diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy
||Exports - partners|Russia 15.2%, China 11.1%, Germany 9.8%, Iraq 8.8%, Georgia 7.8%, Canada 7.6%, Bulgaria 5.3%, Iran 5.3% (2015)
||Imports|$2.638 billion (2016 est.) \\ $2.78 billion (2015 est.)
||Imports - commodities|natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds, pharmaceuticals, cars
||Imports - partners|Russia 29.1%, China 9.7%, Germany 6.2%, Iran 6.1%, Italy 4.6%, Turkey 4.2% (2015)
||Reserves of foreign exchange and gold|$1.512 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $1.775 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Debt - external|$8.365 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $8.554 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of direct foreign investment - at home|$4.817 billion (2013)
||Exchange rates|drams (AMD) per US dollar - \\ 492.7 (2016 est.) \\ 477.92 (2015 est.) \\ 477.92 (2014 est.) \\ 415.92 (2013 est.) \\ 401.76 (2012 est.)