Director-general of the Iranian Agriculture Ministry’s Office of Processing and Food Industries said 98 percent of the country's food industry, including production, processing, and export industries, is operated by the private sector.
According to Changiz Esfandiari, the country’s agro-processing industry is the top industry in terms of job creation, the second in terms of factory construction, and the third in terms of added value, Mehr News Agency reported.
Although Iran is the 17th most populous world country, the latest statistics released by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that the country ranked 43rd among world top food importers in 2020.
Iran exported 4.86 million tons of agricultural and food products worth $2.99 billion in the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Nov. 21), new data released by the Agriculture Ministry shows.
The figures indicate a decline of 11.02% in tonnage and 11.8% in value compared with last year's corresponding period.