Armenia Imports Twice as Many Cars

During the first half of 2019, the highest customs value products imported into Armenia included natural and liquid gas, passenger cars, oil and petroleum products, diamonds, and pharmaceuticals. Among these, only the customs values of gas and passenger cars recorded increases of 12.9% and 29.5%, respectively.

The State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia has published a list of the products with the highest customs value imported during the first half of the year. Compared to the same period last year, there was a decrease in the customs value of oil and petroleum products by 4.9%, diamonds by 3.4%, and pharmaceuticals by 9.6%. The most significant reduction in customs value, at 42.1%, was recorded for computers and their blocks, amounting to 15 million 280 thousand US dollars, which corresponds to a 14.8% decrease.

The volume of imported wheat and meslin has also decreased by 36.2%, cigars, cigarillos, and cigarettes by 33.8%, and sugar by 18.7%. Notably, during the reporting period, the volume of clothing imports grew unprecedentedly by 44 times, resulting in an approximately 25-fold increase in its customs value, amounting to 13 million 259 thousand US dollars.

In the first half of the current year, Armenia imported 53,210 passenger cars, which is twice the number compared to the same period last year. According to the State Revenue Committee data, imported passenger cars hold the second position in monetary terms on the list, totaling 139 million 2 thousand US dollars, marking a 29.5% increase from the previous year. Remarkably, the largest number of cars—about 22,000—was imported from Germany, followed by 14,800 from Japan, and 10,700 from the USA.

Compared to the first half of last year, the import of cement into Armenia has increased by 3.3 times, recording a customs value growth of 5.2 times, totaling 22 million 452 thousand US dollars. During the reporting period, the import of cement from the Islamic Republic of Iran increased by 3.6 times, while its customs value soared by 5.5 times, reaching 22 million 440 thousand US dollars. Additionally, the amount of cement imported from Russia has also risen, with imports from Turkey beginning at around 10.2 tons. This year, no cement was imported from Georgia, compared to 3,481 tons last year.