TEHRAN- Iran's gross domestic product (GDP) including oil grew 6.2 percent in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), compared to the first quarter of last year, according to the Central Bank of Iran (CB).

Based on the CBI data, the figure excluding oil increased by 5.2 percent, IRNA reported.

As announced previously by the central bank, Iran's GDP grew four percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20).

The CBI put the GDP growth at 3.5 percent excluding oil.

According to CBI data, the GDP growth was positive in all four quarters of the previous year so that from the first quarter to the end of the fourth quarter of the said year, the economic growth rate of the country was 1.9 percent, 3.9 percent, 4.9 percent, and 5.3 percent, respectively.

As reported, based on the fixed prices in the Iranian year 1395 (ended on March 20, 2017), the country’s GDP stood at 15.15 quadrillion rials (about $30.7 billion) including the oil sector, and at 13.8 quadrillion rials (about $28.13 billion) excluding the oil sector in the past year.

In early June, the World Bank (WB) in its latest report dubbed “Global Economic Prospects” estimated a 2.2 percent growth for Iran's economy in 2023, a figure which is higher than the average growth forecast for the global economy and despite the fact that the country is still under sanctions imposed by the United States.

The bank has predicted that due to the contractionary monetary policy adopted by many countries this year, the average economic growth in the world is expected to decrease from 3.1 percent in 2022 to 2.1 percent in 2023.

Based on the WB report, Iran’s GDP grew by 4.7 percent in the last quarter of the previous year, while the average GDP growth for most of the advanced countries like the U.S., China, and many European countries was less than the said figure.

In terms of economic growth, Iran ranked 15th among the world’s 72 major economies in Q4 2022, which means that only 14 countries had higher economic growth than Iran in this period.

Iran's 4.7 percent GDP growth in Q4 2022 was achieved, while the average economic growth of developed countries was only 1.2 percent in this period.

The U.S. economy grew by only 0.9 percent in the mentioned period, the Eurozone by 1.8 percent and Japan by 0.4 percent.

According to the WB data, Iran's economy experienced a 2.9 percent growth in 2022; the average growth rate in West Asia and North African economies in 2022 was 5.9 percent.

MA