Iran traded 13.14 million tons of goods worth $7.46 billion, excluding crude oil exports, with its 15 neighboring countries sharing land or sea borders during the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 21-May 21), according to Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman of the Iranian House of Industry, Mine and Trade’s Trade Development Commission.
The figures account for over 51% of tonnage and 48.3% of the value of Iran’s foreign trade during the period.
Exports to neighboring countries stood at 10.15 million tons worth $3.73 billion, unchanged in terms of weight, but down 17% in value compared with last year’s corresponding period, IRNA reported.
Total exports stood at 21 million tons worth $7.51 billion during the period.
Exports to neighbors accounted for 48.4% and 50% of the total exports in weight and value respectively.
Among the neighbors, Iraq was the biggest destination of Iranian exports during the period with $1.22 billion (down 6.5%). It was followed by Turkey with $834 million (up 9%), the UAE with $749 million (down 50%), Pakistan with $283 million (up 68%), Afghanistan with $242 million (up 7.3), Oman with $161 million, Russia with $131 million, Azerbaijan with $71.3 million, Armenia with $66 million, Turkey with $65 million, Kazakhstan with $29 million, Kuwait with $22 million, Qatar with $14 million and Bahrain with $829,000.
Imports from neighbors stood at 4.73 million tons worth $7.94 billion during the period.
The official said imports from neighbors declined by 2% without specifying whether it was in terms of weight or value.
Total imports reached 4.73 million tons worth $7.94 billion during the period while imports from neighbors accounted for 63% and 47% of total imports in weight and value respectively.
The UAE, with $2.3 billion (up 2.5%), was the biggest exporter to Iran among the 15 neighbors followed by Turkey with $873 million (down 0.2%), Russia with $269.3 million (down 16%), Oman with $114 million (down 11%), Pakistan with $105 million (down 16%), Iraq with $23 million, Qatar with $12 million, Azerbaijan with $9.6 million, Kazakhstan with $9 million, Turkmenistan with $6.7 million, Armenia with $4 million, Afghanistan with $2.8 million, Kuwait with $2.4 million and Bahrain with $34,500.
The official noted that Saudi Arabia did not have any trade with Iran during the period.
Annual Statistics
Iran traded 96.76 million tons of goods worth $58.84 billion, excluding crude oil exports, with its 15 neighboring countries in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2023, accounting for over 60% of tonnage and 52% of value of the country’s total foreign trade, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
The trade figures registered a 3.35% decline 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 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, 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 $2.23 billion in trade surplus with its neighbors during the period.
Iran traded around 159.23 million tons of goods worth $112.82 billion (excluding crude oil exports) with other countries in the fiscal 2022-23.
According to Latifi, trade value 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 is 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 announced 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 said.
Need to Diversify Trade Partners
According to Majid Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, the bulk of Iran’s foreign trade is with a handful of countries.
“A limited number of trading partners is not a good idea for a country whose export destinations are limited. Each of these countries could become a risk if and when they get 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 account 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.”
