That dollar amount results from a 219.7% advance from $2.62 billion earned 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the total value of Armenian exports accelerated by 57.7% compared to $5.31 billion during 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, Armenia’s legal currency is the Armenian dram. The dram appreciated by 18.3% against the US dollar since 2019 and rose 9.9% from 2022 to 2023. The stronger Armenian currency made Armenian exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers.
Best Armenian Exports Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 92.2% of products exported from Armenia was bought by importers in: Russia (40.4% of the Armenian total), United Arab Emirates (26.6%), Hong Kong (8%), mainland China (5.1%), Netherlands (2.8%), Iraq (2.2%), Georgia (1.6%), Bulgaria (1.16%), Belgium (1.13%), Iran (also 1.13%), Belarus (1.1%) and Germany (1.04%).
From a continental perspective, 51.3% of Armenia’s exports by value was delivered to European countries while 47.8% was sold to importers in Asia.
Tinier percentages went to buyers in North America (0.6%), Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.020%) and Oceania’s Australia only (0.003%).
Given Armenia’s population of 2.963 million people, its total $8.37 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $2,800 for every resident in the Western Asian country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $1,800 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Armenia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Armenian global shipments during 2023 at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Armenia.
- Gems, precious metals: US$3.2 billion (38.4% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $988.2 million (11.8%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $802.9 million (9.6%)
- Vehicles: $517.1 million (6.2%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $380.7 million (4.5%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $377.1 million (4.5%)
- Machinery including computers: $302.6 million (3.6%)
- Iron, steel: $291 million (3.5%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $226.9 million (2.7%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $127 million (1.5%)
Armenia’s top 10 exports generated well over four-fifths (86.3%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Gems and precious metals was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 224.6% from 2022 to 2023. That product category was propelled by greater revenues from Armenian exports of gold and diamonds.
In second place for improving export sales was electrical machinery and equipment via a 94.9% upturn.
Armenia’s shipments of vehicles posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 66.8%.
The lone decliner among Armenia’s top 10 export categories was the ores, slag and ash group, pulled down by a -13% year-over-year drop.
From the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, unwrought gold was Armenia ’s most valuable exported product at 21.6% of the country’s total. In second place was unmounted diamonds (7%) trailed by phone devices including smartphones (6.4%), jewelry (5.9%), copper ores and concentrates (5.8%), cars (5.4%), cigarettes and cigars (4.2%), alcoholic beverages including spirits and liqueurs (3.7%), iron ferroalloys (3.4%) then television receivers, monitors and projectors (3%).
Products Generating Armenia’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Armenian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Gems, precious metals: US$910.1 million (Up by 204.8% since 2022)
- Ores, slag, ash: $782.2 million (Down by -14.9%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $289.1 million (Down by -0.7%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $273.6 million (Up by 7.1%)
- Iron, steel: $74.1 million (Up by 26.3%)
- Fish: $36.8 million (Down by -62.4%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $28.3 million (Down by -5.9%)
- Vegetables: $17.8 million (Down by -41.3%)
- Lead: $4.9 million (Up by 192.9%)
- Copper: $4.7 million (Down by -41.5%)
Armenia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of gold, jewelry and diamonds. In turn, these cashflows indicate Armenia’s strong competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals product category.
Products Causing Armenia’s Largest Trade Deficits
Armenia incurred an overall -US$3.65 billion trade deficit for 2023, expanding by 9.7% from -$3.33 billion in red ink one year earlier for 2022.
Below are exports from Armenia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Armenia’s goods trail Armenian importer spending on foreign products.
- Vehicles: -US$1 billion (Up by 93.9% since 2022)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$981.9 million (Down by -8.5%)
- Machinery including computers: -$736.4 million (Up by 11%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$426.5 million (Up by 19.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$205.8 million (Up by 5.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$189.6 million (Up by 1.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$148.4 million (Down by -10.2%)
- Paper, paper items: -$133 million (Up by 6.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$121.4 million (Up by 61.5%)
- Meat: -$101.6 million (Down by -1.2%)
Armenia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably for cars, trucks and refined petroleum oils and petroleum gases under the vehicles plus the mineral fuels including oil categories.
Armenian Export Companies
Not one Armenian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists export-related companies from Armenia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Ararat Cement (construction materials)
- Avshar Wine Factory (winery)
- Jermuk Mineral Water Factory (mineral water)
- Kotayk Brewery (alcoholic beverages)
- Multi Group Stone (stone works)
- Ucom (telecommunications)
- Yerevan Brandy Company (alcoholic beverages)
- Yerevan Computer Research and Development Institute (technology)
- Yerevan Confectionery and Macaroni Factory (food)
- Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum (metals)
In macroeconomic terms, Armenia’s total exported goods represent 14.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($59.3 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 14.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 10.1% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest an increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Armenia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Armenia’s unemployment rate averaged 12.5% for 2023, down from an average 13% in 2022 according to Trading Economics statistics.
Armenia’s capital city is Yerevan.
See also Zambia’s Top 10 Exports, Turkey’s Top 10 Exports, Russia’s Top Trading Partners, Switzerland’s Top Trading Partners and Top Asian Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Profiles, The World Factbook. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 8, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on October 8, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 8, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Armenia. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Armenia. Accessed on October 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 8, 2024