During a press conference on December 12, Martin Galstyan, the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, reported that in October of this year, a 40% decrease in transfers to Armenia by Russians was recorded compared to the same period last year. 

When asked about the dynamics of the inflow or outflow of re-locations from the country, Galstyan noted that it can be judged by an indirect indicator - the inflow of remittances. "In general, transfers to Armenia in January-October, compared to January-October 2022, increased by about 20%. But if we take October separately and compare it with the same month last year, there was a decrease of about 40%," Galstyan added.

"A similar picture is observed with tourism: in January-November (compared to the same period of 2022), there was an increase in the inflow of foreign travelers by more than 40%, but in November (compared to November 2022) the growth was only 4%, which means a significant slowdown in the inflow of tourists," the official noted.

"Thus, while last year the Armenian economy was mainly driven by external demand (from re-locates and tourists), since about April this year, the center of gravity has shifted to domestic consumers. This is partly due to increased government spending (capital, current expenditures, pensions, benefits, and public sector salaries), and partly due to the growth of consumer loans, which inevitably follows mortgages," he emphasized.

"The influx of migrants from Nagorno-Karabakh - more than 100 thousand people - also had a significant impact on domestic demand in terms of its increase," Galstyan added.