Non-oil exports from Iran stood at around $47 billion in the last Iranian year (ended March 20) while imports hovered around $54 billion, showing a $7 billion trade deficit for the country, the head of Trade Promotion Organization said.
Noting that non-oil exports saw a 6.5% rise while industrial and mining exports registered a 26% rise last year, Mojtaba Khosrotaj added that imports of raw materials and intermediate goods accounted for 57% of total imports while capital goods and machinery constituted 15% of the sum.
“Less than 18% of imports constituted consumer goods and around 10% of imports were items classified as ‘others’,” Khosrotaj was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Statistics provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show that overall revenues from import tariffs and duties stood at 240 trillion rials ($4.8 billion) last year while the average tariff rate imposed last year was about 12.3%, suggesting a 0.5% increase compared to the year before.
According to Khosrotaj, the increase resulted in 10 trillion rials ($200 million) in new customs revenues.
“Imports grew by about $10 billion last year compared with the year before,” he said.
IRICA has yet to release its own official report on Iran’s foreign trade for the last fiscal year. Its latest report showed that Iran’s non-oil foreign trade during the 11 months to Feb. 19 stood at $89.34 billion, indicating a 16.17% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period. Exports hit 117.95 million tons worth $41.69 billion, indicating a 4.96% decline in value year-on-year, as imports amounted to 33.93 million tons worth $47.65 billion, up 23.61% in value YOY.
Gas condensates ($6.33 billion), liquefied natural gas ($2.5 billion), liquefied propane ($1.33 billion), methanol ($1.07 million) and light crude oil, excluding gasoline ($1.06 billion), were the main exported commodities during the 11-month period.
Imports mainly included auto parts ($1.57 billion), field corn ($1.43 billion), rice ($1.26 billion), soybean ($838 million) and vehicles of engine displacement between 1500 cc and 2000 cc, except for ambulance and hybrid cars ($739 million).
China was the main customer of Iranian products during the 11 months, as Iran exported $8.22 billion worth of goods to the Asian country, 11.29% more than the corresponding period of the year before.
Other major export destinations included the UAE ($5.86 billion), Iraq ($5.57 billion), Turkey ($3.87 billion) and South Korea ($3.79 billion).
Major exporters to Iran included China ($11. 53 billion), the UAE ($8.75 billion), South Korea ($3.29 billion), Turkey ($2.86 billion) and Germany ($2.64 billion).