03 / September / 2025 13:54

Iran posts $2.105 trade deficit for 5 months to late August

Iran posts $2.105 trade deficit for 5 months to late August

Iran has posted a trade deficit of $2.105 billion for the five calendar months to late August amid a visible decline in both export and import shipments.

News ID: 2001812

Figures released by the Iranian customs administration (IRICA) on Tuesday showed that the country’s non-oil trade had reached $43.94 billion in the five months to August 22.

IRICA figures showed that exports from Iran had reached a total of 61.333 million metric tons (mt) worth $20.917 billion in the April-August period, up 0.07% in volume terms but down 6% in value terms compared to the same period last year.

Petrochemicals accounted for $8.638 billion worth of Iranian exports in the five months to late August, down 13% year on year, the figures showed.

China, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the main destinations of the Iranian export shipments in the April-August period, IRICA chief Foroud Asgari said, adding that China had bought more than a fourth of the Iranian export shipments with $5.488 billion worth of purchases.

IRICA figures showed that imports into Iran had dropped by 5.4% and 16.3% in volume and value terms year on year in the five months to late August to reach 15.206 million mt worth $23.022 billion.

Gold topped the list of Iran’s main import items, followed by animal feed and other basic commodities, the figures showed.

Asgari said, however, that gold imports into Iran had fallen by 54% year on year in the five months to late August to reach 14 mt.

He said the UAE, which is the main re-exporting hub in the Persian Gulf, was the largest exporter to Iran in the April-August period, followed by China and Turkey./isna

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