Armenia Did Not Exceed Georgia in GDP per Capita in 2019, While It Had Surpassed Georgia from 2005 to 2009: Hrant Bagratyan

Economist and former Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan has made a post on his Facebook page, noting that Armenia did not surpass Georgia in GDP per capita in 2019, while between 2005 and 2009, during Mikheil Saakashvili’s leadership in Georgia, Armenia was ahead.

“Today, former Georgian President M. Saakashvili, responding to Prime Minister N. Pashinyan’s GDP per capita statement, mentioned that such a thing had not been seen since the time of Tigran the Great. First, as I mentioned earlier, Armenia did not exceed Georgia in GDP per capita in 2019. Moreover, from 2005 to 2009, when M.S. was in power in Georgia, Armenia was ahead of Georgia. Second, fortunately, our team has historical assessments of Armenia’s GDP per capita. Our studies have shown that in the 4th to 5th centuries AD, Armenia had a GDP per capita of approximately $1,000 to $1,200 in today’s prices. The country was prosperous, blessed. At that time, Georgia lagged more than two times behind Armenia's indicators and was far from busy trade routes. We were among the top five countries in the world. The good life and the taxes imposed by the Armenian Apostolic Church, unfortunately, created the illusion in the early 5th century that there was no need for a state, as the Church was enough. By the early 5th century, economic activity became senseless. At the beginning of the 6th century, the Georgian Church separated from the Armenian one. Georgia began to flourish economically.

We were doomed to self-destruction if the Arabs had not invaded us. The monetary tax imposed by them, as well as leasing the land to small businesses, encouraged the development of commodity-money relations. As a result, by the end of the 9th century, Armenian statehood was restored. Unfortunately, this did not lead to long-term results due to the nationalization of land and the gradual handing over to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The weakened economy was the reason why a state of six million could not withstand the armies of Tughril and Alp Arslan. Nevertheless, the Bagratid Armenia initially lived 1.5 times better than Georgia. Regarding Cilicia, where there was private land ownership, life there was several times more prosperous than in Armenia or Georgia. From the time of Queen Tamar until the 1970s in the USSR, Armenia fared much worse than Georgia. However, by the end of the 1970s, Soviet Armenia was again ahead of Georgia.

Therefore, M.S. is simply unaware,” he wrote.