TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s non-oil exports increased by 62.6 percent in the seventh Iranian calendar month of Mehr (September 22-October 21), according to the spokesman of the International Relations and Trade Development Committee of Iran's House of Industry, Mining and Trade.

Ruhollah Latifi told IRIB that Iran exported 18.359 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $6.771 billion in the mentioned month, also registering a 58.6 percent increase in terms of weight.

Meanwhile, some 3.45 million tons of goods valued at $6.927 billion were imported into the country in the said period, indicating a 21.4 percent rise in terms of value, and a 2.2 percent increase in terms of weight, year on year.

Iran's top export destination during this month was Iraq with $2.78 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by China with $1.434 billion, Turkey with $925 million, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $783 million, and Afghanistan with $249 million.

Meanwhile, the country’s top five sources of imports in the first month of autumn were the UAE with $2.18 billion, China with $1.755 billion, Turkey with $1.442 billion, Germany with $200 million, and Russia with $161 million worth of imports.

According to the former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s foreign trade reached $99.7 billion during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21).

Mohammad Rezvanifar said that of the mentioned figure, $60.2 billion was the value of the country’s exports, and $39.5 billion was the worth of the imports.

He put the value of non-oil exports at $32.5 billion, oil exports at $27 billion, and technical-engineering exports at $700 million in the seven-month period.

Saying that the value of the country’s non-oil export rose 15 percent in the first seven months of this year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the official put the weight of non-oil export at 88.7 million tons in the mentioned seven-month, with 11.48 percent growth, year on year.

He further put the weight of the seven-month import at 21.7 million tons.

According to Rezvanifar, the average value of each ton of exported goods has increased by three percent to $367 and the average worth of each ton of imported products has risen six percent to $1,819 in the first seven months of this year, as compared to the same time span of the past year.

EF/MA