Iran’s foreign trade, excluding crude oil exports, reached 68.1 million tons worth $50.28 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22), registering a 13.2% rise in value compared with the corresponding period of last year, new data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration show.
Exports (excluding crude oil) stood at 51.78 million tons worth 24.25 billion during the period, registering a 12.5% fall in terms of weight, but a 13.32% rise in value year-on-year.
Liquefied propane, methanol, liquefied butane, liquefied natural gas and film-grade polyethylene were the top five exported products, as they accounted for $2.01 billion, $1.33 billion, $1.16 billion, $977 million and $976 million of the total export value, respectively, IRNA reported.
These five products collectively accounted for 26.5% of the total export value.
China with 7.84 billion worth of imports was the biggest destination for Iranian products. It was followed by Iraq with $3.38 billion, the UAE with $3.11 billion, Turkey with $2.62 billion and India with $904 million.
Imports to Iran during the same period hit 16.32 million tons worth $26.03 billion, registering a 14.72% fall in terms of weight, but a 13.15% rise in value.
Rice with $1.21 billion, wheat with $1.19 billion, feed corn with $1.17 million, soybeans with $925 million and cellphones with $867 million were the top five imported products. Together, they accounted for 20.63% of the total import value.
The main exporters to Iran were the UAE with $7.2 billion, China with $6.84 billion, Turkey with $2.68 billion, India with $1.38 billion and Russia with $876 million.
“Iran’s foreign trade, excluding crude oil exports, stood at 162 million tons worth $100 billion in the fiscal 2021-22, registering a 38% rise in value compared with the year before,” Alireza Moqaddesi, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, had said.
“Exports stood at 122 million tons worth $48 billion, registering a 41% increase in value compared with the previous year. Iran’s top five export destinations were China, Iraq, Turkey, the UAE and Afghanistan,” he added.
Imports hit 40 million tons worth $52 billion during the same period, registering a 21% and 36% growth in weight and value respectively. The UAE, China, Turkey, Germany and Russia were the main exporters.
Moqaddesi noted that the imports mainly included essential goods, raw materials and production line machinery.
Also known as necessity or basic goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
Iran’s basic imports in the fiscal 2021-22 included corn, unrefined vegetable oil, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, wheat, oilseeds, soymeal, barley, rice, sugar, heavy vehicle tires, fertilizer, pesticide and insecticide, veterinarian medicine, red meat, chicken, eggs, pulses and tea.
Decline in Trade in Real Terms: TCCIM
Despite IRICA’s reports saying Iran’s trade has been on the rise, which draws on nominal values, a recent report released by Economic Studies Department of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture shows how trade has declined in real terms.
According to this report, from the fiscal 2011-12 to 2021-22, the general trend of real exports and imports of goods and services from/to Iran has been downward with the latter registering a more pronounced decline.
The goods and services exports in the fiscal 2011-12 stood at 2,530,000 billion rials at constant prices of fiscal 2016-17. The figure dropped to 2,220,000 billion rials in the fiscal 2021-22.
The average real annual growth of exports during the period stands at -29.1%.
The import of goods and services in the fiscal 2011-12 at constant prices of fiscal 2016-17 was about 5,100,000 billion rials (almost twice the volume of exports in that year). It reached 1,280,000 rials (58% of exports) by the end of the period under review.
The average real annual growth of the imports was at -12.9%.
Intensification of sanctions, restrictions on access to foreign exchange resources and export earnings, and imposition of bans and restrictions on the import of certain groups of goods by the Iranian government played a significant role in shaping the country’s commercial landscape during the period.
During half of the decade from fiscal 2012-13 to 2021-22, the annual growth of goods and services exports was positive and during the other half, it was negative.
During this period, the annual growth of imports was negative in six years, while it was positive in four years.
From the fiscal 2014-15 to 2016-17, the annual growth of exports was positive and reached 27.4% in the fiscal 2016-17.
With intensification of sanctions and restrictions on the export of some of Iran's goods, as well as limitations in financial exchanges, the rate of export growth took on a downtrend as of fiscal 2017-18 and it became negative from the fiscal 2018-19 to 2020-21.
The average annual growth of exports was -11% during the three-year period.
During the same period, the average annual growth of imports was -30%.
In the fiscal 2021-22, the export’s average annual growth became positive after three consecutive years of negative trend and reached 5.2%. The growth of oil exports and non-oil exports were both effective.
The average annual growth of imports was positive and stood at 24%, which is the highest figure from the fiscal 2011-12 to 2021-22.
From the fiscal 2012-13 to 2021-22, the contribution of exports of goods and services to Iran’s economic growth was positive during half of the years under review and negative during the other half.
The contribution of imports to growth was positive for six years and negative for four years.
From the fiscal 2018-19 to 2020-21, the goods and services exports’ contribution was negative due to the intensification of sanctions and a decline in oil exports. This is while the role of imports was positive due to the restrictions on some imported goods and decline in imports.
The average annual contribution of goods and services exports was negative and stood at 1.3%, while it was positive for imports and hit 12.9% during the fiscal 2011-12 to 2021-22.
In the fiscal 2021-22, the increase in goods and services exports led to growth in the contribution of exports to economic growth and stood at 0.75% in the 4.7% economic growth.
The growth in imports also had a negative contribution to economic growth and stood at 1.71%.
In general, the net export of goods and services had a negative impact of 0.96 percentage points in the economic growth of fiscal 2021-22.
The TCCIM report cited a recent joint studies by the World Trade Organization and the World Bank regarding the role of trade in developing economies and said the total share of developing countries in global exports increased from 16% in 1990 to 39% in 2021 which, along with the growth of exports and the increase in their share in the total global trade, led to the improvement of the welfare and economic growth of these economies.
The export of goods from developing economies increased from $3.38 trillion in 2005 with a 2.8-fold increase to $9.6 trillion in 2021, and the export of services of these economies increased from $563 billion in 2005 with a similar growth rate to $1.6 trillion in 2021.
According to Iran’s foreign trade statistics, in Iran's economy, the export of goods and services has not played a positive role in generating economic growth, rather in some periods, it has had a negative contribution to growth.
