TEHRAN - The trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey in the first 10 months of 2023 reached $4.4 billion, showing a 16 percent decline compared to the same period of last year.

According to the latest figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), Iran’s trade with the neighboring country stood at $5.3 billion in January-October 2022, Tasnim News Agency reported.

According to TURKSTAT, Turkey’s exports to Iran from January to October 2023 reached $2.55 billion, recording a three percent increase compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Turkey exported over $2.49 billion worth of products to the Islamic Republic in the first 10 months of 2022.

Turkey’s imports from Iran also registered a 34 percent decline and fell from $2.81 billion in January to October 2022 to $1.85 billion in the first 10 months of 2023.

Based on the data previously released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the value of Iran’s exports to Turkey increased by 19 percent to reach $3.35 billion in 2022.

Turkey had imported over $2.82 billion worth of commodities from the Islamic Republic in 2021.

Based on the mentioned data, Iran’s imports from the country also marked an 11-percent rise to hit $3.07 billion in the past year, in comparison with 2021, when the figure was $2.77 billion.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the trade between the two countries registered a 15-percent rise in 2022 compared to 2021.

The value of trade between the two neighbors reached $6.42 billion in 2022, while the figure stood at $5.59 billion in the preceding year.

Iran's trade balance with Turkey was $280 million positive in favor of Iran in the past year.

Last July, Iran, and Turkey discussed ways of expanding economic relations along with political ties at the Turkish-Iranian High-Level Cooperation Council in Tehran.

During the meeting, which was co-chaired by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two sides negotiated the extension of the gas export contract between the two sides for the next 25 years.

In the meeting, President Raisi noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to expand economic relations with neighboring countries.

The president also evaluated Tehran-Ankara ties as positive and progressive, saying that the two countries should pursue appropriate policies to move towards increasing their annual trade exchanges to $30 billion.

On the sidelines of the mentioned meeting, Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian also held talks with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dunmez in which the two sides exchanged views on cooperation in energy fields.

EF/MA