OVER 300,000 ARMENIAN CITIZENS GET OVER POVERTY LEVEL IN 2004-2007

ARKA
Oct 15, 2008

YEREVAN, October 15. /ARKA/. Over 300,000 Armenian citizens surmounted
the low-income poverty threshold in 2004-2007. As a result, the share
of Armenia’s poor population decreased by 27.9%.

At the presentation of the survey "Social picture and poverty in
Armenia, Diana Martirosova, Head of the Household Research Department,
RA Statistical Service, reported a 40.9% decrease in abject poverty
in 2007 as compared with 2004, which means that 83,000 people got
over the abject poverty level.

Martirosova pointed out that the poverty problem was not so acute
last year as before.

On the other hand she stressed that poverty remains a problem for
Armenia – over 800,000 people or 25% of the country’s population remain
below the poverty level, with 123,000 of them living in abject poverty.

The survey "Social picture and poverty in Armenia" was conducted in the
country from January 1 to December 31, 2007, using the WB methods. It
involved 7,872 households in 45 cities and 289 rural communities. The
survey was co-financed by the Millennium Challenges Armenia Fund.

The results of the survey will be used in assessing the efficiency
of programs implemented in Armenia under a compact signed with the
US Millennium Challenges Corporation.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress