Iran and the 27 member states of the European Union traded €2.97 billion worth of goods during the first eight months of 2021, to post a 1.15% decline compared with the previous year's corresponding period.
However, bilateral trade grew by 35.37% year-on-year in August to €391.79 million.
Figures announced by Eurostat's database show Germany remained the top trading partner of Iran during the eight months, as the two countries exchanged €1.11 billion worth of goods, 6.98% less than the year before.
Italy came next with €397.11 million worth of trade with Iran. A year-on-year comparison of the figures indicates an 11.48% decline in trade between Iran and Italy.
The Netherlands with €308.23 million (down 2.38%), Spain with €225,11 million (up 25.81%) and Belgium with €177.07 million (up 25.1%) were Iran's other major European trading partners.
Estonia registered the highest growth of 366.34% in trade with Iran during the eight months under review. Romania with 320.59% and Croatia with 143.92% came next.
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 €563.81 million worth of commodities to EU during the period, indicating a 17.04% growth compared with the similar period of the previous year.
Germany with €183.04 million, Italy with €114.89 million, Spain with €53.63 million, Romania with €40.6 million and Croatia with €30.08 million were the main export destinations in the eight months under review.
The country exported €87.63 million worth of goods to EU partners in August, up 110.07%.
The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€20.09 million), Italy (€18.87 million), Belgium (€15.91 million) and Spain (€5.6 million)
Iran’s imports from the EU member states declined by 1.96% to €2.41 billion during the eight-month period under review. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports worth €923.51 million to Iran, down 8.17%, followed by Italy (€282.22 million), the Netherlands (€286.03 million), Spain (€171.49 million) and Belgium (€138.92 million).
Imports from the green continent grew by 22.79% to €304.16 million during the eighth month of the year.
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.
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.
Trade between Iran and the EU 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.
The new US government led by Joe Biden has sought to renegotiate since April to revive the nuclear deal, which would see international sanctions on Iran lifted.
Iran backs talks that are result-oriented, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said on Monday, as Tehran and other signatories struggled to overcome snags hampering the resumption of negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.
"We are serious about result-oriented negotiations ... If Americans are serious, they should remove unjust sanctions on Iran," he told state TV.
