Iran and the European Union’s 27 member states traded €2.08 billion worth of goods in the first five months of 2022 (January-May), registering a 12.44% growth compared with last year's corresponding period.
Data released by Eurostat's database show Germany was the top trading partner of Iran in the EU during the period, as the two countries exchanged €779.71 million worth of goods, 6.46% higher than the corresponding period of the year before.
Italy came next with €266.16 million worth of trade with Iran. A year-on-year comparison of trade volume indicates a 5.48% growth.
The Netherlands with €161.8 million (down 18.8%) and Spain with €144.5 million (up 9.66%) were Iran's other major European trade partners.
Croatia registered the highest growth of 59.76% in trade with Iran during the period under review and was followed by Romania with 19.97%.
Bilateral trade declined by 1.98% in May to hit €403.38 million.
Germany with €140 million, Italy with €63.09 million, the Netherlands with €27.82 million, Spain with €24.28 million and France with €18.16 were Iran’s top trading partners in May.
A directorate of the European Commission located in Luxembourg, Eurostat’s 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 €464.64 million worth of commodities to EU during the five months under review, indicating a 39.44% growth year-on-year.
Germany with €131.3 million, Italy with €74.68 million, Spain with €58.05 million, Romania with €41.97 million and the Netherlands with €30.24 million were Iran’s main export destinations.
Iran exported €102 million worth of goods to EU partners in May, up 46.25% YOY.
The main export destinations included Germany (€22.02 million), Italy (€19.68 million), Romania (€13.16 million), Spain (€10.18 million) and the Netherlands (€6.29 million).
Iran’s imports from the EU member states during the five-month period grew by 6.49% YOY to €1.61 billion. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports with €648.4 million, up 5.4% YOY, followed by Italy (€191.15 million), the Netherlands (€131.56 million) and Spain (€86.45 million).
Imports from the EU declined by 7.58% YOY to €300.66 million in May.
Iran and the European states traded €4.86 billion worth of goods in 2021, registering a 9.09% growth compared with the year before.
The country exported €922.04 million worth of commodities to EU during the period, indicating a 29.32% growth year-on-year. Its imports from the EU member states grew by 5.24% YOY to €3.94 billion.
Bilateral trade stood at €4.24 billion in 2020 to register a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019. Iran exported €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019. Its imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to reach €3.62 billion.
Two-way trade gained momentum after Tehran signed the nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015. The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, saw years of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic lifted. In exchange, the country agreed to limit the scope of its nuclear program. JCPOA was implemented in 2016.
However, in 2018, Washington unilaterally quit JCPOA that it had signed with five other countries and Iran. The US then reimposed sanctions against Tehran, leading to a decline in Iran’s foreign trade, including with the EU.
Negotiations to bring Iran back into compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear accord are coming to an end, but it is not clear if they will result in an agreement between Tehran and world powers, a senior EU official said on Friday.
"We are very, very advanced in the negotiations. We have had a round of so-called proximity talks in Doha; they produced no results and the reason is very clear because we have negotiated everything that was on the table," the official was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"We can be more precise on some details that are still pending; we are waiting for some ideas from Tehran and what the Americans have to say ... I don't know the end of the process, but the end of the negotiation, yes."
France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said this week there were only a few weeks left to revive the deal and it was up to Iran to decide whether to sign what had been negotiated.
