Iran traded 86.84 million tons of goods worth $52.93 billion, excluding crude oil exports, with 15 neighboring countries that share land or sea borders, from the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21, 2022, to the end of the 11th month of the year on Feb. 19, 2023.
This indicates a 5.87% fall in terms of weight, but a 14.44% rise in terms of value compared with the corresponding period of the year before, new data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
The UAE was the main trade partner of Iran during the period with 21.99 million tons (up 3.26%) worth $21.75 billion (up 15.71%). It was followed by Turkey with 16.54 million tons (down 11.92%) worth $12.5 billion (up 21.24%) and Iraq with 25.45 million tons (down 16.16%) worth $9.58 billion (up 3.45%).
Iran’s exports to its neighbors stood at 67.49 million tons worth $27.52 billion, registering a 3.93% decline in terms of weight, but a 16.95% rise in value year-on-year.
Iraq was the biggest destination of Iranian exports during the period with 25.29 million tons (down 9.71%) of imports worth $9.38 billion (up 14.13%). It was followed by Turkey with 13.21 million tons (down 13.61%) worth $6.9 billion (up 23.01%) and the UAE with 10.16 million tons (up 3.34%) worth $5.25 billion (up 24.3%).
Imports stood at 19.34 million tons worth $25.4 billion to register a 12.06% decline in terms of weight, but a 11.69% growth in terms of value year-on-year.
The UAE, with 11.82 million tons (up 3.19%) worth $16.49 billion (up 13.22%), was the biggest exporter to Iran followed by Turkey with 3.32 million tons (down 4.19%) worth $5.59 billion (up 19.14%) and Russia with 2.08 million tons (down 35.97%) worth $1.3 billion (down 9.95%).
The above figures on exports and imports show Iran registered a trade surplus of $2.11 billion with its neighbors during the period.