Growth myths: median salary, restaurants and betting

Shoghakat TV · 31 minutes

“There is an average, there are different forms of average, mainly all are based on the arithmetic mean, but there is also a median, which is not the average salary, but the salary of the average person, which gives a more realistic picture of how much the average statistical person earns. The average salary in the Republic of Armenia has currently exceeded 300 thousand drams, approximately 330 thousand drams gross, but the main reason is that the rich have become richer. The median, the median salary, the salary of the average person, is currently about 280 thousand drams, from which if we subtract taxes, it will be approximately 210-220 thousand drams. Another more interesting picture is that the lowest 25 percent receive a gross salary of less than 170 thousand drams.”

“The people who go to restaurants are, let’s say, in the top 30 percent, or the people who consider it a priority for themselves and take out loans to do such things. The State Revenue Committee published the statistical growth of gambling, and it is a stunning picture: 5.8 trillion drams or $14.4 billion in 2022, 6.3 trillion drams or $15.6 billion in 2023, 7.2 trillion drams or $18.2 billion in 2024. There are people who have nothing to lose and go all-in and lose everything, and this cannot be considered an indicator of well-being. At the moment, like a patient being treated in a hospital, the situation of our economy is stable. However, the question arises, at what cost will we achieve that growth, because if we achieve that growth as in the past, let’s say, at the expense of the banking system and other related services, without making fundamental changes, then the average statistical citizen, the real citizen, may not feel it.”