Iran Food Exports Hit $2 Billion

Close to $2 billion worth of foodstuff were exported from Iran during the eight months to Nov. 21, 2017, registering a 20% increase compared with the similar period of last year, the director general of the Foodstuff, Pharmaceutical and Toiletries Industries Office with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade announced.

“Dairy and ice-cream followed by chocolate and confectionery topped the list of exported products over the period.

Last Iranian year (March 2016-17), $2.5 billion worth of foodstuff were exported from the country. It is planned to increase the figure to around $3 billion this year,” Mehdi Sadeqi Niyaraki was also quoted as saying by IRNA.

Iran’s main export destinations for foodstuff are Iraq and Afghanistan. Food exports, said the official, account for more than 3% and 7% of the weight and value of Iran’s non-oil exports per year respectively.

Niyarki added that last year’s figures show, food industries created 15% of all the jobs and accounted for 12% of all the industries active in Iran.