Wednesday, September 9 2020 12:54

ArmInfo.In January-July 2020, the revenue of the trading sector of Armenia decreased by 11% (against 8.9% growth in the previous year), amounting to 1.5  trillion.  drams ($ 3.1 billion), of which 255.3 billion drams were  provided in July with a slowdown in monthly growth to 11.7% from  14.3% in June. According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic  of Armenia, such dynamics was provoked by the reversal of the  dynamics of retail and wholesale trade from growth to decline, as  well as the continuing subsidence of the purchase / sale of cars.

In particular, wholesale trade in January-July showed a decline of  7.2% (against 12% growth a year earlier), sagging in volume to 778  billion drams ($ 1.6 billion). At the same time, in July, the  proceeds of wholesale trade increased by 15.9% to 138 billion drams.

During the reporting period, retail trade also reduced volumes - by  14.8% (against 8.6% growth a year earlier) to 689 billion drams ($  1.4 billion). In July, the retail sales revenue increased by 8.7% to  109 billion drams.

In the structure of retail trade, the largest turnover is provided by  shops (including supermarkets) - 80.6% or 555.1 billion drams (with  an annual decline of 13.8%), other shopping facilities - 12.7% or  87.3 billion drams (from annual decline by 16.8%), followed by  consumer goods markets - 3.8% or 26.3 billion (with an annual decline  of 24.9%), stalls and kiosks - 2.1% or 14.2 billion ( with an annual  decline of 17.3%) and agricultural markets - 0.8% or 5.9 billion  drams (with an annual decline of 15.4%).

The volume of purchase / sale of cars in January-July 2020 slowed  down the annual decline from 18.8% to 11.8%, amounting to 50.8  billion drams ($ 105.1 million). In July alone, the volumes decreased  by 9.8% to 8.3 billion drams.

Wholesale trade dominates in the structure of the total trade  turnover of Armenia in terms of volumes - 51.3%, with a small margin  followed by retail trade - 45.4%, and the remaining 3.3% falls on the  purchase / sale of cars.

It should be noted that in Armenia, as part of the fight against the  spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a State of Emergency (State of  Emergency) was introduced from March 16, which was extended monthly  and will be lifted from September 12, while maintaining restrictive  security measures. With the introduction of the state of emergency, a  temporary ban was imposed on many types of economic activities  (including restaurants, cafes, bars, casinos, hotels, canteens,  retail facilities and industries not related to food and medical  products). The ban was partially lifted in the second half of April,  then from May 4 the list of permitted types of economic activity was  further expanded in order to ensure the vital activity of the  economy, and from May 18 the ban was lifted almost completely. But  there was no economic recovery. In particular, economic activity,  after an increase in February by 9.2%, turned out to be in stagnation  in March, and in April it sank by 13.5%, after which in May, in  connection with the complete lifting of the temporary ban on  activities, it went into growth by 13.3%, accelerating the pace in  June to 14.8%, but in July there was a noticeable slowdown to 9.7%  (and in January-July there was a decline of 5.7% y / y).  Moreover,  since the February 10.4% growth in February, the trade sector sank by  3.5% in March, deepening the decline in April to 29.4%, with a sharp  rise in May by 33.3%, followed by a significant monthly weakening  rates, while the annual dynamics of these periods is negative.