TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s non-oil trade with its 15 neighbors reached $22.588 billion in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22) to register a 52 percent rise year on year, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

The Islamic Republic traded over 47.222 million tons of commodities with the neighboring countries in the mentioned year, IRIB quoted Ruhollah Latifi as saying on Sunday.

According to the official, the volume of the traded goods in the mentioned period also increased by 37 percent compared to the figure for the previous year’s same six months.

Iran traded a total of 79.104 million tons of non-oil products worth $44.926 billion with its trade partners in the mentioned six months, he stated.

Trade with neighboring countries in the first half of the year accounted for 60 percent and 50 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade during the said period, in terms of weight and value, respectively.

The country exported over 36.087 million tons of non-oil goods worth more than $11.218 billion to the neighboring countries in the period under review, while importing more than 19.138 million tons of goods worth over $11.369 billion.

Iraq was Iran’s top export destination by importing $3.840 billion worth of commodities from the Islamic Republic, while the lowest volume of exports was made to Saudi Arabia with only $39,000, according to Latifi.

After Iraq, the main export destinations for Iranian products and goods were Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

On the other hand, the highest volume of Iran's imports from neighboring countries was made from the UAE with $7.305 billion, followed by Turkey, Russia, Iraq, and Oman.

Increasing non-oil exports to the neighboring countries is one of the major plans that the Iranian government has been pursuing in recent years.

Iran shares land or water borders with 15 countries namely UAE, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Saudi Arabia.

According to IRICA, Iran currently exports non-oil commodities to 40 European countries, 21 Asian countries, 28 African countries, and 12 American countries, while importing from 41 European countries, 31 Asian countries, 12 American countries, and 11 countries in Africa.

EF/MA