TEHRAN – The value of non-oil trade between Iran and Iraq stood at $3.772 billion during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21), the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

As announced, Iraq was Iran’s third biggest trade partner among the neighboring countries during the four-month period.

In late May, the head of the Department of Spatial Planning and Regional Planning of the Iranian Plan and Budget Organization said that Iran exports some 2,200 products, valued at $12 billion, to neighboring Iraq annually.

Speaking in a meeting entitled “Reviewing opportunities and challenges of attracting Iraqi investors and strengthening trade relations between the two countries in line with demarcating Iran in the regional value chain”, Jafar Hosseini said that Iraq, benefiting from $85 billion foreign exchange reserves, 130 tons of gold reserves, and 147 billion barrels of proven reserves of crude oil, is among the richest countries in West Asia.

He went on to say that Iran’s exports to Iraq have increased 15-fold over the past 20 years, rising from about $600 million in 2003 to more than $10 billion last year (ended March 19, 2024).

Currently, Iran exports over 2,200 various types of goods and products to Iraq, he said, adding that more than half of the active Iranian traders are present in the Iraqi market, IRNA reported

Developing the trade infrastructures to facilitate trade between the two countries, encouraging traders to invest in Iraq, promoting trade through dispatching and admitting trade delegations and participating in exhibitions of the two countries, etc. are suggested to strengthen the trade and economic relations between Iran and Iraq, he underlined.

As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil export to its neighbors increased by 16 percent during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mohammad Rezvanifar said that the country exported 26.981 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $10.642 billion to its neighbors in the mentioned four-month period, indicating also six percent rise in terms of weight year on year.

The official further announced that Iran imported 7.215 million tons of non-oil goods valued at $9.179 billion from the neighboring countries during the first four months of the current year, with one percent growth in terms of weight and four percent fall in terms of worth, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

According to the official, Iran's trade balance with 15 neighboring countries has been positive by 1.5 billion dollars without considering oil, during the said four-month period.

As previously announced by the IRICA head, in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, the country exported $17.5 billion non-oil goods, registering an 8.0 percent growth, year on year.

Rezvanifar put the total value of the country’s non-oil trade in the mentioned four months at $36 billion.

According to the official, Iran imported $18.5 billion worth of non-oil products, about 6.0 percent less than the figure for the previous year’s corresponding period.

The country’s trade balance was $1.0 billion negative in the mentioned four months, indicating a significant decline compared to the previous year’s same period.

In the first four months of the previous Iranian year, the country’s export of non-oil goods stood at nearly $16 billion, while the imports during this period were about $19.5 billion. The trade balance of the country was negative $2.5 billion during this period.

MA