Overall PMI Increases for Three Consecutive Months

The overall Purchasing Managers’ Index, known by its Farsi acronym Shamekh, for Iran’s economy settled at 48.83 in the month ending Jan. 19 from 47.77 in the month ending Dec. 20, 2020, indicating 1.06-point or 2.22% improvement.
Data released by the Statistics and Economic Analysis Center of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, the sponsor and coordinator of the survey, show the index has been on the rise for three consecutive months since the Iranian month ending Oct. 21 when it hit a six-month low of 44.47.
The headline PMI is a number from 0 to 100, such that over 50 shows an economic expansion compared with the previous month. A PMI reading under 50 indicates contraction and a reading of 50 implies no change.