Armenia

Armenia: Elevated Military Spending Amid Thin Institutional Capacity

Armenia's economy stood at $25.96 billion in 2024, with per-capita output of $8,556.21, against a population of 3,033,500, per World Bank WDI figures. The government's debt burden is projected at 50.6% of GDP in 2026, per IMF WEO data, while foreign reserves stood at $5.09 billion in 2025, per IMF IFS.

Defense Posture

Armenia's defense spending is a standout figure in its profile. SIPRI Milex data put outlays at $1.73 billion in 2025, equivalent to 6.094% of GDP by SIPRI's own GDP series for that year — a notably high share that reflects sustained security pressure rather than a World Bank GDP comparison, which is not used here. Active personnel numbered 43,000 as of 2022, per COW National Material Capabilities (NMC) data, and the country's composite index of national capability (CINC) stood at 0.00055959501 for the same year, also per COW NMC.

Governance

V-Dem v15's 2025 scores show an electoral democracy index of 0.614 and a liberal democracy index of 0.371, pointing to a meaningful gap between electoral competition and liberal constraints on power. State capacity is scored at 0.453 for the same year, indicating constrained administrative reach relative to the electoral democracy figure. All three governance figures are drawn from the same V-Dem v15 release and reference year, 2025, forming a single coherent snapshot rather than a composite of different vintages.

Energy

Armenia's primary energy consumption was 0.1698 exajoules in 2023, per Our World in Data's energy series, with electricity generation at 9.72 terawatt-hours in 2025 from the same source.

Data Gaps

Oil and gas production figures are both recorded at 0.0 terawatt-hours, but the underlying data point dates to 2016, per Our World in Data — nearly a decade stale and not a reliable signal of current energy independence or lack thereof. No figures are available in this bundle to update that picture. The military-spending share above should be read strictly against SIPRI's own GDP denominator for 2025; it should not be cross-referenced against the World Bank's $25.96 billion 2024 GDP figure, as the two series are not aligned in year or methodology.

Sources: World Bank WDI, IMF WEO, IMF IFS, SIPRI Milex, COW NMC, V-Dem v15, Our World in Data (Energy).