| Project Detail |
The development objective of this activity is to strengthen welfare monitoring in Armenia via improvements to the quality of household and individual level survey data (ILCS) collected by the National Statistical Service (NSSRA). Armenia is a lower middle-income country with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (Atlas method) of USD 3,880 in 2015. Armenia’s economy grew by 3 percent per year on average since it gained independence in 1991 to date, but the average masks large fluctuations. Armenia’s growth episode can be distinguished into five phases: (i) the period after independence (1991-93), in which the economy contracted by half; (ii) the transition phase (1999-2003), in which growth was driven by high productivity growth and exports; (iii) the construction boom period (2003-2008), facilitated by the government’s campaign to actively encourage investments from Armenians living abroad into real estate in Armenia; (iv) the period of a sharp economic contraction and post-crisis recovery (2009-2012), when the construction sector stabilized, and a strong growth in exports contributed to an improving external balance; and (v) the current phase, in which the growth momentum seems to have been lost due to structural rigidities and anemic domestic demand, further weakened by the contraction of the Russia’s economy. The World Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (FY2014 to FY2017, and thereafter) aims at supporting the country in achieving the goals set out in the Armenian Development Strategy. Although the grant-supported 2017 ILCS data will come too late to influence the Systematic Country Diagnostic FY2017, data from the 2017 round and subsequent rounds of the ILCS will be useful for monitoring progress on the twin goals (poverty and shared prosperity) under the new Country Partnership Framework. |
