YEREVAN. – According to the results of the first quarter of this year, we have a 6.5% economic activity. On the average, it’s comparable to the indicators of the previous three years; in some cases—higher, in some cases—lower. The Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia, Tigran Khachatryan, said this at a press conference on Friday.

In his words, the industry’s 2% growth, which is relatively low as compared with the average indicators of the past three years, has affected this 6.5% economic activity.

“That’s explained by two factors: First, we [Armenia] have had a drop by 20% in mining industry,” Khachatryan explained. “[But] against the backdrop of that drop, the good news is that the processing industry has grown rapidly. We have at least a 7.5% to 8% growth here, which means that the branches that are not based on raw materials are growing at a good pace.”

He said that the services sector grew by 17.3% in the first quarter, which is a high figure, as compared with previous years.

The minister informed that the services sector in Armenia grew by 17.3% in the first quarter, and said this is a high indicator, as compared to previous years.

“Domestic trade recorded a more than 10% growth, which is comparable to previous years,” Tigran Khachatryan added. “The construction growth made up 10.8%, exports dropped by 8.6%, and imports dropped by 3.2%.”