Tehran Stocks’ Average Free Float at 20 Percent

Companies listed on Tehran's equity market had an average free float of slightly over 20% in the last fiscal year (March 2017-18), according to the latest market data released by Securities and Exchange Organization.
Floating stock is the number of shares available for trading. It is calculated by subtracting closely-held shares and restricted stocks from a firm’s total outstanding shares. 
Closely-held shares are those owned by insiders, major shareholders and employees, while restricted stocks refer to insider shares that cannot be traded because of a temporary restriction such as the lockup period after an initial public offering.
A stock with a small float is generally of less interest to the average investor. It takes fewer trades to move the share price, hence its high volatility and limited liquidity. And there's also the wide bid-ask spread for each.
Low float is typically an impediment to active trading, as the limited trading activity makes it difficult to exit long positions in stocks with small float.
This is while the average free float for the world's top markets usually hovers around 80%, according to the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad.