Armenia lags behind on comprehensive development
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia has one of the lowest indicators in terms of employment opportunities, wages, living standards and social integration.
This is showed in the ranking of the 79 developing countries, which was compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
In the study entitled “The Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017,” WEF provided indicators of comprehensive development for 109 countries of the world, 30 of which are considered developed economies, while the remaining 79 are developing countries.
The results of the study are based on 12 key performance indicators of inclusive development within three main areas: growth and development, involvement, intergenerational equity and sustainability.
Armenia occupied the 50th place in the ranking of developing countries, thereby substantially lagging behind its neighbors – Azerbaijan (2nd place), Turkey (20th), Iran (21st) and Georgia (31st). Russia ranked at the 13th place.
The study showed that by the GDP per capita Armenia occupies the 40th place among developing countries, again losing to neighboring Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia.
The three of leaders among developing countries are Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Hungary, while Norway is the leader among developed countries, followed by Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark. Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Austria also entered the top ten countries with developed economy.
The economic and social situation in Armenia continues to remain terrible and deteriorates even more. In 2014, the GDP of Armenia was $11.6 billion, but decreased to $10.7 billion in 2016. The international reserves of the country also declined by $1 billion over the past two years.
Meanwhile, the state budget suffers from deficit every year. Due to this, the country constantly takes foreign loans. The national debt in 2014 was $4.4 billion and now makes up $5.6 billion; thereby demonstrating a rise by 26 percent in the period.
Moreover, the unemployment rate in Armenia still remains highest in the CIS area, while the wages in the country keep falling down. Decline in public sector made up 3.5 percent as compared to the data of last year. In general, significant decrease in salaries has been observed throughout Armenia. Salaries are declining in both public and private sectors, and the Armenian government seems to be unable to stop it.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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