Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Vahan Sirunyan, reported a decrease in tourist arrivals in Armenia during the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Speaking at the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs meeting of the National Assembly, Sirunyan stated that the decrease amounted to 1.9 percent.

The main contributor to this decline was a significant reduction of 22.2% in the flow of tourists from Russia, Sirunyan explained. However, there was a notable increase of 21% in the number of tourists from other countries. Visitors from Georgia, India, and Iran were particularly noteworthy contributors to this increase.

As the deputy minister of finance highlighted, 441 thousand people visited Armenia in total during the reporting period.

Vahan Sirunyan also revealed contrasting trends in Armenia’s trade performance during the first quarter of 2024. On the export front, Armenian goods experienced a significant increase, surpassing the indicators of the same period in 2023 by 2.7 times. However, Sirunyan highlighted a 14.3% drop, specifically in the export of goods of Armenian origin. He attributed the notable growth in exports to the re-export of gold, primarily to the UAE.

Conversely, Armenia’s imports surged by 75.8% in January-March 2024 compared to 2023. However, Sirunyan clarified that excluding the effect of re-exports, a 9.2% decline was recorded in actual imports.