Iran Economic Statistics

Silvia Andreoletti

Silvia is a Reporter at Trade Finance Global. She is also currently finishing her BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at New College, Oxford, with a focus on financial markets, game theory, and international relations.

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Exporting to Iran

Iran’s main imports are machinery, transportation, and agricultural products and foodstuffs. Its main import sources are China, the UAE, and Brazil, with the rest of the major Asian exporters close behind. Iran is one of the most populous countries in the Middle East, with a stable and resilient economy that is boosted by but not reliant on oil growth. 

Iran is subject to expansive sanctions by the EU, UK, and US due to its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program and, more recently, for supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine. The sanctions prohibit trade with specific individuals and entities as well as in entire industries or classes of products. Many countries, such as the UK, have also instituted strategic export controls, which ban exports of arms to Iran and restrict the export of controlled goods such as aircraft and some telecommunications equipment. These sanctions have had a negative but not devastating effect on the economy, which has restructured to prioritise production for domestic consumption. Trade is also still ongoing, especially with Asian countries that have not imposed sanctions and in classes of products that have not been restricted. 

The Iranian government is friendly to investors and exporters, instituting several measures to encourage foreign investment and facilitate exports. Products imported to specially instituted Free Trade Zones or imported for the intended use in the Zones are not subject to any customs duty, and storage in bonded warehouses is allowed for a limited time everywhere in the country, easing the impact of customs duties on the exporter. 

Exporting to Iran: What is trade finance?

Iran is a member of OPEC and GECF and ranks as the 57th largest export economy in the world and stands at the 92nd most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). The main yearly imports are cocoa beans (around $3B), rice (around $2.4B), cocoa beans (around $3B), rice (over $2.3B), soybean meal ($1.5B), gold (over $1.5B) and wheat ($1.2B).

Imports in Iran averaged around 19000 USD Million from 1974 until 2014, hitting of a high of over 77700 USD Million in June of 2011 and a low of around 3000 USD Million at the start of 2013. The main import countries are India (around $5B), South Korea (around $4B), Turkey ($4B), China (around $13B) and Ghana ($3B).

The top imports are non-electrical machinery (almost 20%), steel and iron (around 15%), chemicals (around 10%), transport vehicles (around 8%) and machinery (around 7%). The main countries of import are China (around 20%) and UAE (around 30%). They also trade heavily with Germany, Turkey and South Korea.

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