Spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Rouhollah Latifi released a report of Iran’s six-month trade with neighboring countries on Sunday putting Saudi Arabia on the list of the country’s export destinations as the two neighbors had stopped bilateral trade last year.
Bilateral trade between Iran and Saudi Arabia reached zero in the last Iranian fiscal year to March 20, 2021 following few years of reducing trade exchanges.
Latifi said that Iran’s foreign trade topped 79.1 million tons worth $45 billion worth of shipments in the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21–September 22).
Iran’s share of exports topped 60 million tons worth $21.8 billion in the six-month period, Latifi said, putting the country’s share of imports at 19 million tons worth $23.1 billion.
Noting that Iran traded over 47 million tons worth $22.8 billion of shipments with its 15 neighboring countries over the period, he said that the figures show a 52 percent increase in terms of value.
Latifi said that trade with neighbors accounted for 60% of the total weight and 50% of the total value of Iran’s trade over the period under review.
This amount of trade with the neighboring countries registered a 37% growth in terms of weight and 52% in value terms compared to figures from last year’s corresponding period, he added.
The official said that Iraq imported some $3.84 billion worth of goods from Iran to be the main export destination for Iranian products among the neighboring countries over the mentioned period, followed by Turkey with $2.30 billion, the UAE with $2.24 billion, Afghanistan with $999 million, and Pakistan with $544 million.
Oman exported the biggest amount of products among neighboring countries in the six-month period with $277 million worth of products.
Russia with $270 million, Azerbaijan with $212 million, Armenia with $156 million, and Turkmenistan with $145 million followed Oman as the second to fifth neighboring countries exporting products to Iran.