August 14, 2025 - The South Caucasus News

Unemployment rate in Armenia

In the first three months of 2025, Armenia’s unemployment rate fell to 14%, down from 15.5% a year earlier. According to the latest data from the Statistical Committee, employment also rose over the same period – from 48.7% last year to 50.1% – while economic activity increased from 57.7% to 58.2%.

Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan regularly posts on social media about the number of registered employees and new jobs, calling each new figure a “historic record”. In April, he said that compared with 2018, when he and his team came to power, the number of jobs had grown by 44.7%.

“A new historic record has been set for registered jobs in Armenia – 796,473 – and the economic activity rate was 8.6%,” Pashinyan said in July, summarising last month’s statistics.

Fresh statistical data and comments from Armenians on social media.

36,000 unemployed as of late June

As of the end of June 2025, there were 36,654 officially registered unemployed people in Armenia – 22,185 women and 14,469 men.

The number of unemployed was almost evenly split between urban areas (18,561) and rural areas (18,093).

According to the Statistical Committee, the largest group of jobseekers are aged 35 to 44, with the breakdown as follows:

35–44 years: 12,244 unemployed
45–54 years: 8,079
Over 55: 6,110

There are also 9,891 young people aged 16 to 29 looking for work, most of them from the Ararat and Kotayk regions.

Armenia to support employers who hire people in need

The government is launching a new employment programme. However, it is a pilot project and will initially be implemented only in two regions — Kotayk and Syunik

Armenia's pilot employment programme for low-income

Data covers Armenia’s permanent population

The comparative analysis of the first three months of 2024 and 2025 was carried out among permanent residents of Armenia aged 15 to 74.

At the time of the survey, respondents either:

were employed by an organisation registered and operating in Armenia, or by a non-resident company based abroad (national employment rate);
were unemployed – not in work and seeking it in Armenia and/or abroad (national unemployment rate);
were not employed and not counted as unemployed – classified as outside the labour force.

All respondents were placed into one of three mutually exclusive categories based on their participation in the labour market:

employed
unemployed
outside the labour force

The last category includes people who are not currently engaged in economic activity and are not looking for work. This typically covers:

retirees no longer in work
school pupils and students who do not work
homemakers
people unable to work due to health reasons (including those with disabilities)
those in prison
others not listed above, such as people caring for relatives or those not looking for work for other reasons.

‘Increase in employment and competitive workforce’: strategic program in Armenia

The government has developed a plan to increase the number of working women, youth aged 18-29, and regional residents, as well as to engage citizens receiving family and social benefits in the labor market.

Employment program in Armenia for 2025-2031

Comments from social media

Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s post about a “new historic record” drew 800 comments. Here are some of them:

“The government should raise the minimum wage and pensions. On the wages you pay today, it’s impossible to live. I’m talking about kindergarten teachers and assistants, nurses in clinics – the list goes on. They all do very important work. Raising the minimum wage is a necessity.”

“Mr Pashinyan, please pay attention to worker exploitation. It’s outrageous – employers exploit staff and pay them peanuts.”

“These are just numbers, while people are living badly and struggling under the weight of debt.”

“I wonder why so many people go abroad to earn a living?”

“In Armenia, professional and conscientious workers are not valued. This statistics is just an imitation of work.”