Figures by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) show the country’s economy continued to grow in the second quarter of the calendar year that started in March 2022 despite continued economic pressure caused by American sanctions.
CBI figures published on Sunday showed that Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 3.6% in the three months to September 22, 2022 compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
The figures showed the non-oil sector of the Iranian economy had also expanded by 3.1% year on year in the September quarter.
The CBI uses fixed prices reported in 2016 as a baseline for its GDP calculations.
The figures, covered in a report by the official IRNA agency, showed that Iran’s jobless rate was 8.9% in the quarter to September while the population of the country rose by 0.8% from the same quarter in 2021 to reach 84.7 million.
They showed that money supply in Iran had grown 15.8% year on year in the September quarter last year.
The CBI said Iran’s foreign debt was at $6.904 billion in September 2022. That comes as another report published by the IRIB News on Sunday said Iran’s foreign debt had dropped by $2.6 billion to $6.42 billion in November.
Iran has reported consecutive periods of quarterly growth in its economy since mid 2021, more than two years after the US imposed sanctions on the country's energy, banking and trade relations with the rest of the world.
Experts say the sanctions have given Iran an opportunity to diversify its economy away from oil by encouraging increased activity in domestic manufacturing and agriculture.