Armenia ranked No. 89 among 134 countries in annual Best Countries for Business survey, published in October, 2011 by Forbes Magazine, improving its ranking by seven steps, moving up from 96 to 89 compared with 2010 index; however, it lagged behind nearly all its regional neighbor countries, except Iran in several areas. In spite of substantial improvement in trade freedom (68 - 41) and technology factors (100 -83) respectively, Armenia faced substantial deterioration in corruption index (95 - 103) compared with last year.

As for the other indicators, Armenia's rank for monetary freedom was 64, for property rights 106, for innovation 106, for red tape 19, for investor protection 76, for personal freedom 100 and for tax burden 117.

Armenia's GDP Growth was 2.6%, GDP/Capita was 5,700 USD, Trade Balance -13.8%. After several years of double-digit economic growth, Armenia faced a severe economic recession with GDP declining more than 14% in 2009, despite large loans from multilateral institutions. Sharp declines in the construction sector and workers' remittances, particularly from Russia, were the main reasons for the downturn. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia had made progress in implementing some economic reforms, including privatization, price reforms, and prudent fiscal policies, but geographic isolation, a narrow export base, and pervasive monopolies in important business sectors have made Armenia particularly vulnerable to the sharp deterioration in the global economy and the economic downturn in Russia.

The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures have been ineffective and the current economic downturn has led to a sharp drop in tax revenue and forced the government to accept large loan packages from Russia, the IMF, and other international financial institutions.Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms in order to regain economic growth and improve economic competitiveness and employment opportunities, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan.