Iran traded 96.76 million tons of goods worth $58.84 billion, excluding crude oil exports, with 15 neighboring countries sharing land or sea borders in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2023.
This accounted for over 60% of tonnage and 52% of value of Iran’s total trade with other countries, new data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
The trade figures registered a 3.35% decrease in terms of weight, but a 13.45% rise in value compared to the year before.
The UAE was the main trade partner of Iran among its neighbors during the period with 24.35 million tons (up 3.71%) of exchanged goods worth $24.16 billion (up 12.57%). It was followed by Turkey with 18.16 million tons (down 6.68%) worth $13.55 billion (up 19.07%) and Iraq with 27.23 million tons (down 16.41%) worth $10.24 billion (up 1.26%).
Iran’s exports to its neighbors stood at 75.18 million tons worth $30.53 billion, unchanged in terms of weight, but marking a 17.36% rise in value year-on-year.
Iraq was the biggest destination of Iranian exports during the period with 27.23 million tons (down 8.85%) of imports worth $10.23 billion (up 14.82%). It was followed by Turkey with 14.63 million tons (down 7.01%) worth $7.45 billion (up 22.53%) and the UAE with 11.2 million tons (up 4.15%) worth $5.76 billion (up 17.01%).
Imports stood at 21.58 million tons worth $28.3 billion to register a 12.56% decline in weight, but a 9.51% growth in value.
The UAE was the main trade partner of Iran during the period with 24.35 million tons (up 3.71%) of exchanged goods worth $24.16 billion (up 12.57%)
The UAE, with 13.14 million tons (up 3.35%) worth $18.39 billion (up 11.25%), was the biggest exporter to Iran followed by Turkey with 3.53 million tons (down 5.25%) worth $6.09 billion (up 63.63%) and Russia with 2.62 million tons (down 30.55%) worth $5.76 billion (down 58.27%).
The above figures on exports and imports show Iran registered a trade surplus of $2.23 billion with neighbors during the period.
“Iran traded around 159.23 million tons of goods worth $112.82 billion [excluding crude oil exports] in the fiscal 2022-23,” said Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Iranian House of Industry, Mine and Trade’s Trade Development Commission and former spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, earlier this week.
He noted that trade value has increased by $11.38 billion compared with that of the previous year.
Iran’s exports, excluding crude oil, reached 122.56 million tons worth $53.16 billion during the period, registering a 10% rise in terms of value.
“This constitutes a record as the highest export value was previously registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with $50.56 billion,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Imports stood at 37.18 million worth $59.65 billion, registering a 10% fall in terms of weight, but a 13% rise in value.
Latifi noted that 12.91 million tons of foreign goods were transited from Iran in the year under review to register a 2.2% rise.
“The highest volume of transit was registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 13.2 million tons of transit,” he added.
According to Majid Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, the lion’s share of Iran’s foreign trade is with five countries, namely China, the UAE, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan.
“A limited number of trading partners is not a good idea for a country whose export destinations are limited. Each of these countries could pose a risk if and when they grab a bigger share of Iran’s trade and dominate,” he told the Persian daily Ta’adol.
“We are likely to get into trouble for whatever reason, including political issues, with these countries, each of which accounts for more than 15% of our trade. All said, market diversity is a must for import and export. Now that Iran is under sanctions and cannot forge ties with Europe and the US, we need to concentrate on other markets, namely Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
