By Albert Khachatryan

The RA Statistical Service released the “Poverty and food security” review for January-June 2010. The review contains preliminary information on the average per capita income in decile groups of the Armenian population for 2009.

According to the information, from 2007 to 2009, the Armenian population became decreasingly polarized in terms of incomes – from 15.1 down to 12.2 times. That was possible due to appreciably different rates of increase in the incomes of the richest and poorest sections of the country’s population.

The per capita incomes of the richest sections showed an 18.4% increase, with a 46.2% increase registered in the per capita incomes of the poorest sections. We can only be happy, as the poor’s incomes may even exceed those of the rich if the present rates are maintained. Simple calculations show that by 2022 the average per capital incomes of the poorest will reach 735,000 AMD against 658,000 AMD of the richest sections. That is, the poor and the rich will exchange their status!

The problem is, however, that the current incomes of not only the poorest sections, but also relatively comfortable ones, are rather low. The following is the information on the minimal basket of goods per capita. In the 4th quarter of 2009 the minimum monthly cost of food basket was 18,800 AMD and that of basket of goods 29,200 AMD. Only in the fifth decile group the average per capita incomes exceed the monthly cost of the minimum food basket. As to incomes exceeding the monthly cost of the minimum basket of goods, they are only registered from the 7th decile group upward. The scraps of information run counter to other data. Specifically, hundreds of thousands of private cars are registered in Armenia. That is “comfortable” families constitute about a third of the Armenian population. They can afford rather expensive cars, as well as spend money on fuel and technical maintenance. This is quite a number for Armenia, with its population of 3.2m. Obviously, the statistical data do not include the richest families. Can a family with a monthly income of U.S. $211 be considered rich? However, the lack of other information necessitates working with the available data.

As to rates of increase, it is common knowledge that high rates do not mean anything at all. Although the poorest left the richest far behind, absolute figures are different. The basic data are significantly different. So the average monthly income per capita increased by only 2,000 AMD in the case of the poorest sections, whereas it showed an increase of 11,900 AMD in the case of the richest from 2007 to 2009. Rich grew even richer, while the poor “slightly improved” their financial situation.