Iran exported 6.34 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $5.2 billion during the first 11 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2019-Feb. 19), according to Shahrokh Shajari, an official with the Agriculture Ministry.
In-shell pistachios (fresh and dried) topped the list of exports in terms of value, as $628 million worth of the crop were exported during the period.
Following pistachio were apples with $309 million, tomatoes with $223 million, unshelled pistachios with $194 million and watermelon with $172 million.
“In term of tonnage, watermelons topped the list of exports with 728,000 tons, followed by apples with $606,000 tons, tomatoes with 496,000 tons, potatoes with 422,000 tons, and onions and Persian shallot with 374,000 tons,” Shajari told the Iranian Agriculture News Agency.
According to the official, horticultural products accounted for 1.66 million tons worth $2.37 billion, while agronomical products accounted for 4.02 million tons worth 1.91 billion of total agrifood exports during the period.
He added that exports of livestock and poultry products amounted to 530,000 tons worth $658 million while those of fisheries sector totaled 113,000 tons worth $225 million.
Imports at 22.6m Tons Worth $11.6b
Iran imported 22.65 million tons worth $11.64 billion of agrifood products during the same period to record a trade deficit of $6.44 billion in this sector.
Field corn had the biggest share of imports in terms of value at $1.98 billion, followed by semi-milled rice and white rice with $1.55 billion, barley with $954 million, oilcake with $932 million and soybean with $854 million.
In terms of tonnage, field corn topped the list of imports with 8.13 million tons, followed by barley with 3.76 million tons, soymeal with 2.14 million tons, soybean with 1.97 million tons and unrefined sugar with 1.74 million tons.
Last Year's Tally
According to data released by the National Agriculture and Water Strategic Research Center, which draws on data provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, last year, Iran exported 6.95 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $6.4 billion to register a 5.7% decline in value compared with the year before.
Agrifood exports accounted for 5.9% and 14.4% of the total volume and value of Iran's non-oil exports of 117.22 million tons worth $44.31 billion respectively over the period, the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture reported.
Iraq, Afghanistan, the UAE, Pakistan, Russia, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Turkmenistan and Germany were the biggest export destinations in a descending order, as around 80% of Iran’s agrifood exports went to these 10 countries.
Last year's agrifood imports stood at 20.48 million tons valued at $10.84 billion during the same period, which shows a 1% decline in value compared with the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The imports accounted for 63.9% and 25.4% of the total volume and value of Iran’s total non-oil imports of 32.04 million tons worth $42.61 billion respectively.
The biggest exporters to Iran were India ($1.64 billion), Switzerland ($1.37 billion), the UAE ($1.02 billion), the UK ($789 million), the Netherlands ($768), Singapore ($755 million), Russia ($668 million), Turkey ($631 million), Brazil ($436 million), Pakistan ($309 million) and Germany ($246 million).
The above-mentioned countries accounted for nearly 80% of Iran's total agrifood imports.
The country recorded an agrifood trade deficit of $4.44 billion in the last Iranian year (March 2018-19), which shows a 5.7% improvement year-on-year.
The solid increase in agricultural production this year has been the main driver of economic growth, as reported by Iranian officials.
The sector reportedly saw the highest growth rate of +9.5% in H1. With 6.5%, the agriculture sector also saw the highest growth among Iran's economic sectors in Q1. The rate for last year's corresponding period stood at 0.3%.
The significant boost in agricultural production owes largely to abundant rainfall at the beginning of the year, which led to increased crop yields.
"Growth in the agriculture sector has saved the Iranian economy over the past two years," says an Agriculture Ministry official, Abbas Keshavarz.
According to former agriculture minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, Iran meets 85% of its demand for agricultural products domestically and the remaining 15% are provided through imports.
Hojjati noted that $80 billion worth of agricultural products are produced in Iran every year, $75 billion of which are consumed inside the country.
According to Director General of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's Food, Medicine and Toiletries Industries Department Mehdi Sadeqi Niyaraki, 95% of Iran’s food industry are owned by the private sector, noting that the sector accounts for 15% of the country’s industrial employment.
