DEMOGRAPHY
Armenia’s 3.3 million population breaks down ethnically as Armenian 97.9%, Yezidi 1.3%, Russian 0.5%, other 0.3% (2001 census, NSS). The offcial language is Armenian, spoken by about 97.7% of the population. Yezidi is spoken by 1%, Russian by 0.9%, and other languages by 0.4% (2001 census). The religion is predominantly Christian.
The population is relatively young, concentrated in cities. The urban population represents 64% of the total, with a full 34% of the total residing in Yerevan. The average age of the population is 35, with about 20% of the population 15 and under. Life expectancy is 71 years for men and 77 for women.
HOUSEHOLDS
Household incomes, expenditures, and basic food consumption in Armenian households during the 2008-10 period are shown in Figure 1 below. These results emerge from Integrated Household Surveys, illustrating household income by source. We have included the 1st and 10th deciles of the population for comparison purposes. Total consumption expenditures are defned as expenditures on food products, and all services. The structure of consumption expenditures in 2010 is presented in Figure 2. Available data suggest that food constitutes approximately 52% of consumption spending. As we might expect, and as illustrated in the fgures, the total percentage of food expenditures was greater for 1st decile households than for 10th-decile households. Also as might be expected, households in the 10th decile used more services and purchased more non-food products compared to households in the 1st decile.
FIGURE 1. MONETARY INCOME FOR HOUSEHOLDS OF THE 1ST AND THE 10TH DECILE GROUPS, 2010
FIGURE 2. HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES OVERALL, AND OF THE 1-ST AND THE 10-TH DECILE GROUPS, 2010