Iran's H1 Trade With EU Drops 7% YOY to €2.2 Billion

EghtesadOnline: Trade between Iran and EU member states during the first half of 2020 stood at €2.24 billion to register a 6.76% decline compared with last year’s corresponding period, latest data provided by the European Statistical Office show.

News ID: ۷۵۰۷۶۳

22 August 2020

ermany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the European bloc with bilateral exchanges standing at €934.4 million (up 23.06% YOY), €324.31 million (down 28.19% YOY) and €237.14 million (down 4.48% YOY), respectively.

Iran’s trade with Luxembourg (€741,131), Slovakia (€6.74 million) and Bulgaria (€77.22 million) increased by 300%, 184% and 82.47% respectively year-on-year—the highest among EU states.

Trade with Malta (€1,553), Finland (€2.13 million), Ireland (€4.7 million), Latvia (€380,681) and Croatia (€2.52 million) saw the sharpest declines of 98.95%, 86.89%, 86%, 76.76%, and 65.74% 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.

Organizations cooperating with Eurostat in different countries are summarized under the European Statistical System.

Exports Fall 3.36%

Iran exported €347.54 million worth of commodities to the EU during the six-month period, indicating a 3.36% decline compared with the similar period of last year.

The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€131.74 million), Italy (€51.85 million), the Netherlands (€51.8 million), Spain (€32.3 million) and Belgium (€20.25 million).

Iran’s exports to Luxembourg (€420,051), the Netherlands (€51.8 million) and Finland (€804,658) experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 1,244%, 489% and 157% respectively.

This is while exports to Malta (none), Croatia (€819,330) and Latvia (€306,908) fell by 100%, 80.92% and 72.43% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states. Exports to Malta stood at €27,794 during the January-June of 2019.

The exported goods mainly included edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruits or melons worth €119.32 million; Other nuts, fresh or dried, shelled or peeled worth €97.37 million; mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, bituminous substances and mineral waxes with €42.09 million; Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, and crude worth €40.98 million; plastics and articles thereof worth €30.55 million; organic chemicals worth €21.36 million; coffee, tea, maté and spices worth €20.25 million;

Ginger, saffron, turmeric, thyme, bay leaves, curry and other spices worth €19.66 million; polymers of ethylene, in primary forms worth €18.45 million; products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included worth €14.08; iron and steel worth €13.97 million; grapes, fresh or dried worth €13.12 million; pharmaceutical products worth €12.65 million; polymers of styrene, in primary forms worth €10.32 million; lac, gums, resins, vegetable saps and extracts worth €10.02 million, and carpets and other textile floor coverings worth €9 million.

Imports Drop 7.36%

Imports from the EU dropped by 7.36% to stand at €1.89 billion during the six months under review.

The top five exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €802.65 million, Italy with €272.45 million, the Netherlands with €185.35 million, France with €115.71 million and Spain with €100.62 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Slovakia with €4.5 million, Bulgaria with €67.57 million and Luxembourg with €321,080 were EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase of 395.2%, 194.34% and 108.46% respectively.

Malta with €1,553, Finland with €1.32 million and Ireland with €4.54 million experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (98.7%, 91.68% and 86.50% respectively).

The imports mainly included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, as well as parts thereof worth €405.48 million; cereals worth €282.66 million; pharmaceutical products worth €243.61 million; wheat and meslin worth €201.7; optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus, parts and accessories thereof worth €193.73 million, and human and animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses, antisera and other blood fractions and immunological products, vaccines, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products worth €115.75 million.

Other imports included medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses worth €96.55; electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles worth €80.46 million; maize or corn worth €75.96 million; and instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary science worth €74.16 million.

Miscellaneous chemical products worth €52.9 million; oilseeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants, straw and fodder worth €52.26 million; apparatus based on the use of X-rays or of alpha, beta or gamma radiations, whether or not for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, including radiography or radiotherapy apparatus, X-ray tubes and other X-ray generators, high tension generators, control panels and desks, screens, examination or treatment tables and chairs worth €48.15 million; organic chemicals worth 47.51 million and seeds, fruits and spores, for sowing (excluding leguminous vegetables and sweetcorn, coffee, tea, maté and spices, cereals, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, seeds and fruit used primarily in perfumery, medicaments or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes) worth €45.94 million were other major groups of imported products.

Trade in June

Iran’s trade with EU member states in June stood at €412.13 million to register a drop of 11% compared with the corresponding month of 2019.

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in June, with commercial exchanges standing at €153.19 million, €69.9 million and €49.77 million respectively.

Iran’s trade with Slovakia (€1 million), Slovenia (€3.98 million) and Czech Republic (€2.84 million) increased by 411.06%, 161.66 and 92.78% respectively year-on-year, marking the highest among EU states.

Trade with Latvia (none), Ireland (€312,417) and Cyprus (€20,077) saw the sharpest declines of 100%, 97.17% and 95.79% respectively. Iran’s trade with Latvia during last year’s June stood at €465,954.

Iran exported €70.88 million worth of commodities to the EU during June, indicating a 3.07% drop compared with last year’s June.

The main export destinations in June were Germany (€46.58 million), Italy (€7.77 million) and Spain (€4.19 million).

Iran’s exports to Czech Republic (€134,613), Luxembourg (7,972) and Poland (775,420) experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 642.49%, 449.79% and 315.45% respectively.

This is while exports to Croatia (€81,845), Italy (€7.77 million) and Romania (€1.48 million) fell by 97.43%, 75.16% and 66.88% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states.

Imports from EU decreased by 8.61% to stand at €341.25 million in June.

The top three exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €106.61 million, Italy with €62.13 million and the Netherlands with €47.74 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Slovakia with €704,258 million, Lithuania with €371,009 and Czech Republic with €2.7 million were the EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase (5181.67%, 126.83% and 92.68% respectively).

Cyprus with €20,077, Finland with €141,586 and Ireland with €307,410 experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (94.04%, 92.66% and 91.34% respectively).