Iran and 27 members of the European Union traded €1.84 billion worth of goods during the first five months of 2021, to post a 1.07% growth compared with the previous year's corresponding period.
Bilateral trade grew by 9.96% in May to €394.9 million.
Figures extracted from Eurostat's datasets show Germany remained the top trading partner of Iran during the five months under review, as the two sides exchanged €732.6 million worth of goods, 6.05% less than the year before.
Italy came next with €252.3 million worth of trade with Iran. A year-on-year comparison of the figures indicates a 0.81% decline in trade between Iran and Italy.
The Netherlands with €197.5 million (up 5.41%), Spain with €131.3 million (up 19.13%) and Belgium with €96.2 million (up 8.5%) were Iran's other major European trading partners.
Malta registered the highest growth of 8,862.2% in trade with Iran during the period and was followed by Estonia with 382.2, Croatia with 281.2% and Romania with 225%.
Eurostat is a directorate of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to EU institutions and promote the harmonization of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession.
Organizations in different countries that cooperate with Eurostat are summarized under the concept of European Statistical System.
Iran exported €332.1 million worth of commodities to EU during the five-month period, registering a 20% growth compared with the similar period of previous year.
The country exported €69.5 million worth of goods to EU partners in May, up 123.1% YOY.
The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€116.1 million), Italy (€72 million), Spain (€34.2 million) and Romania (€21.5 million).
Exports to Estonia saw the largest increase of 330% during the period year-on-year.
Top exported goods mainly included edible fruit and nuts; fruit zest; mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes; plastics and articles thereof; pharmaceutical products; coffee, tea, mate and spices; products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included; iron and steel; organic chemicals; carpets and other floor coverings.
Iran’s imports from EU member states declined by 2.31% to €1.51 billion during the five months. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports worth €616.4 million to Iran, down 11.2%, followed by the Netherlands (€185.1 million), Italy (€180.3 million), Spain (€97.1 million) and Romania (€87.4 million).
The imports included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, parts thereof; pharmaceutical products; optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus, parts and accessories thereof; and cereals.
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; and sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles; organic chemicals; miscellaneous chemical products; oilseeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; plastics and articles thereof; essential oils and resinoids; as well as perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations constituted other imported products.
Imports from the green continent declined by 0.78% to €325.4 million during the fifth month of the year.
Trade between Iran and 27 EU states in 2020 stood at €4.24 billion to register a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019.
Iran exported €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU during the 12-month period, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019. Its imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to stand at €3.62 billion during 2020.
2020 Trade in Review
Trade between Iran and 27 EU member states in 2020 stood at €4.24 billion to register a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019, latest data provided by the European Statistical Office show.
Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the European bloc with bilateral exchanges standing at €1.72 billion, €664.1 million and €372.75 million, respectively.
Iran exported €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU during the 12-month period, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019.
The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€263.4 million), Italy (€106.67 million), Spain (€55.94 million), Belgium (€33.16 million) and Romania (€30.22 million).
Imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to stand at €3.62 billion in 2020.
The top five exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €1.46 billion, Italy with €557.5 million, the Netherlands with €351.85 million, France with €254.4 million and Belgium with €203.8 million worth of shipments to Iran.
The decline in trade was mainly to blame on unilateral sanctions imposed in 2018 by the United States under former president, Donald Trump, on Iran’s economy after he pulled the US out of the nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers in 2015.
The incumbent US administration led by Joe Biden intends to revive the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Indirect talks are underway now in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to revive the deal.
Negotiations on reviving the nuclear deal have reached their last stage and now they are adjourned to inauguration of the next administration in Tehran, IRNA reported on Saturday.
Abbas Araqchi, Iran's top negotiator in Vienna, has stressed that the Islamic Republic had made difficult decisions when it came to remaining in the JCPOA while the US did not abide by its commitments, noting that it is other sides' turn to decide based on recent negotiations and finalize their views on the revival of the agreement.
The last round of the JCPOA Joint Commission meetings in Vienna ended three weeks ago and the negotiating teams have not yet specified the date for resuming talks.
A spokesperson for the European Union told Euronews that the Iranian authorities have informed the EU they are eager to hold the next round of talks in Vienna, whenever the next Iranian administration comes to power, which means from Aug. 5 onwards.
