Iran-EU Trade Down 71.5%

EghtesadOnline: Trade between Iran and EU member states in 2019 stood at €5.22 billion to register a 71.54% decline compared with €18.35 billion in 2018, latest data provided by the European Statistical Office show.

News ID: ۷۴۹۷۱۱

17 February 2020

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the European bloc with bilateral exchanges standing at €1.7 billion, €976.56 million and €513.87 million respectively.

Iran’s trade with Cyprus (€8.78 million), Bulgaria (€97.74 million) and Malta (€391.64) increased by 63.26%, 36.15% and 8.63% respectively year-on-year—the highest among EU states, Financial Tribune reported.

Trade with Greece (€41.84 million), Spain (€306.27), Luxembourg (€933,860), Finland (€21.36 million) and France (€393.85 million) saw the sharpest declines of 96.71%, 88.3%, 85.81%, 84.45% and 83.68% respectively.

Eurostat is a directorate of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to EU institutions and promote the harmonization of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession.

Exports Down 92%

Iran exported €701.14 million worth of commodities to EU during the 12-month period, indicating a 92.59% fall compared with €9.45 million in 2018.

The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€191.86 million), Italy (€152.3 million), Spain (€80.78 million), Belgium (€38.5 million) and Romania (€38.02 million).

Iran’s exports to Latvia, Luxembourg and Portugal experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 494.24%, 146.43% and 87.83% respectively.

This is while exports to Greece, France and Austria fell by 98.94%, 98.83% and 97.09% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states.

The exported goods mainly included edible fruit and nuts; iron and steel worth €109.73 million; plastics and articles thereof worth 108.79 million; coffee, tea, maté and spices worth €40.18 million; carpets and other textile floor coverings worth €31.48 million; pharmaceutical products worth €30.95 million; products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included worth €28.7 million; iron and steel products worth €27.2 million; lac, gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts worth €21.39 million; and nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances worth €16.7 million.

Imports Fall 49%

Imports from EU dropped by 49.16% to stand at €4.52 billion during 2019.

The top five exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €1.51 billion, Italy with €824.25 million, the Netherlands with €483.6 million, France with €376.01 million and Belgium with €228.93 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Malta with €182,439, Cyprus with €8.28 million, Bulgaria with €63.68 million and Croatia with €9.32 were EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase (68.48%, 65.39%, 63.25% and 44.11% respectively).

Luxembourg with €580,470, Latvia with €879,950 and Finland with €20.87 million experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (90.98%, 87.05% and 84.72% respectively).

Imports mainly included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof worth €1.14 billion; pharmaceutical products worth €698.88 million; optical, photographic, cinematographic, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof worth €558.21 million; electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound and television image recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles worth €231.44 million; cereals worth €184.99 million; organic chemicals worth €165.3 million; miscellaneous chemical products worth €125.53 million; plastics and articles thereof worth €111.57 million; oilseeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants, straw and fodder worth €98.96 million; and essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations worth €83.35 million.

Other imported products included paper and paperboard; paper pulp, paper or paperboard worth €68.42 million; tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other coloring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks worth €63.52 million; miscellaneous edible preparations worth €55.87 million; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes worth €52.85 million; manmade staple fibers worth €51.22 million; vehicles other than rail or tramway rolling-stocks, and parts and accessories thereof worth €48.63 million; residues and waste from food industries; animal fodder worth €41.63 million; and albuminoidal substances, modified starches, glues and enzymes worth €40.72 million.

Monthly Perspective

Iran’s trade with EU member states stood at 492.4 million in December to register a year-on-year decrease of 7.18%.

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the final month of 2019 with commercial exchanges standing at €188.72 million, €87.4 million and €45.74 million respectively.

Iran’s trade with Malta (€94,402), Romania (€5.38 million) and Estonia (€108,710) increased by 31,792%, 162.81% and 125.52% respectively year-on-year—the highest among EU states.

Trade with Finland (€215,009), Hungary (€4.61 million) and Ireland (€615,913) saw the sharpest declines of 94.95%, 93.2% and 86.18% respectively.

Iran exported €52.81 million worth of commodities to EU during December, indicating a 52.95% fall compared with December 2018.

The main export destinations in December were Germany (€14.77 million), Italy (€9.18 million) and Spain (€8.5 million).

Iran’s exports to Malta, Cyprus and Latvia experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 10,508%, 2,611% and 2,009.8% respectively.

This is while exports to Hungary, Austria and UK fell by 99.59%, 75.67% and 44.08% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states.

Imports from EU increased by 5.1% in December to stand at €439.58 million.

The top three exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €173.95 million, Italy with €78.22 million and the Netherlands with €44.4 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Romania with €1.99 million, Slovakia with €924,469 and Estonia with €97,985 were EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase (3,189%, 161.14% and 138.69% respectively).

Luxembourg with €30 million, Finland with €177,874 and Ireland with €598,862 experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (99.85%, 95.78% and 86.47% respectively).