On April 15, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced in the National Assembly that, for the first time in Armenia’s history, pensioners’ income exceeds the minimum consumer basket.
The Prime Minister repeated the same claim during the April 22 Facebook live broadcast: “Fortunately, the average pension now exceeds the cost of the consumer basket; this is historic news and marks a significant change in the social security sector of Armenia.”
“Verified” tried to determine whether pensioners’ incomes exceed the minimum consumer basket.
How much is the minimum consumer basket?
It’s important to note that the Statistical Committee publishes two indicators for calculating the minimum consumer basket, based on methodologies from the World Bank and the Ministry of Health.
As per the World Bank methodology, the minimum consumer basket per adult was 68,784 drams in the fourth quarter of 2025. The latest data will be released in May.
Minimum consumer basket as per the World Bank Methodology.
The 61,000 drams shown in the screenshot, on which Pashinyan bases his claim that the pension exceeds the minimum consumer basket, refers to the per capita consumer basket. As the Statistical Committee told us, the per capita figure includes all individuals, including children aged 0 to 14. Since children consume less food and services, they lower the average.
Therefore, our calculations are based on the cost of the minimum consumer basket per adult, including pensioners. This cost totals 68,784 drams.
Furthermore, a calculation using the Ministry of Health’s methodology suggests a higher figure of 78,836 drams for the same period.
The figure is based on the Ministry of Health’s methodology
How much is the average pension
Pensions in Armenia increased on April 1, 2026.
The average pension is now 59,000 drams. Additionally, pensioners can receive a refund of up to 20% on non-cash transactions, capped at 10,000 drams. According to the latest data, those who qualify for the refund receive an average of 7,000 drams.
If we add the average refund amount to the average pension, we arrive at a total of 66,000 drams. This figure is below the minimum consumer basket threshold for an adult, which is 68,000 drams, based on data from the third quarter of last year.
When we apply the Ministry of Health’s methodology, which sets the minimum value of the consumer basket at 78,836 drams, the difference becomes even more prominent.
The claim that pensioners’ income exceeds the minimum consumer basket is misleading. The average pension of 66,000 drams is lower than both the adult consumer basket calculated using the World Bank methodology (68,784 drams) and the Ministry of Health benchmark (78,836 drams).
Pashinyan selectively presented the data, focusing on the per capita figure of 61,000 drams, but failed to mention that this figure is higher for adults.
