Iran-EU 2020 Trade Down 13%

EghtesadOnline: Trade between Iran and 27 EU member states in 2020 stood at €4.24 billion, registering a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019, latest data provided by the European Statistical Office show.

News ID: ۷۸۶۲۳۰

10 March 2021

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the European bloc with bilateral exchanges standing at €1.72 billion, €664.1 million and €372.75 million, respectively.

Iran’s trade with Cyprus (€12.63 million), Luxembourg (€1.54 million) and Bulgaria (€115.3) increased by 123%, 65% and 17.66% respectively year-on-year, which were the highest among EU states.

Trade with Ireland (€8.85 million), Finland (€6.5 million), Latvia (€685,450), Croatia (€8.12 million) and Malta (€157.72 million) saw the sharpest decline of 77%, 69.5%, 68.9%, 60.97% and 59.73% 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 €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU during the 12-month period, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019.

The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€263.4 million), Italy (€106.67 million), Spain (€55.94 million), Belgium (€33.16 million) and Romania (€30.22 million).

Iran’s exports to Luxembourg, Finland and Ireland experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 194%, 127% and 114.02% respectively.

This is while exports to Portugal, Croatia and Latvia fell by 85%, 82% and 56% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states.

Germany recorded the highest growth in imports from Iran, among major trade partners of Iran, with 38.76%.

The exported goods mainly included edible fruit and nuts; iron and steel; plastics and articles thereof; coffee, tea, mate and spices; carpets and other textile floor coverings; pharmaceutical products worth; products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included; iron and steel products; lac, gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts; and nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances.

Imports Fall 49%

Imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to stand at €3.62 billion in 2020.

The top five exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €1.46 billion, Italy with €557.5 million, the Netherlands with €351.85 million, France with €254.4 million and Belgium with €203.8 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Slovakia with €8.26 million, Bulgaria with €94.7 million and Denmark with €177.2 million were EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase (244%, 47.97% and 18.06% respectively).

Latvia with €103,810, Ireland with €8.5 million and Finland with €5.3 million experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (88.2%, 77.9% and 74.13% respectively).

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

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

Monthly Perspective

Iran’s trade with EU member states stood at €423.9 million in December to register a year-on-year decrease of 9.05%.

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the final month of 2020 with commercial exchanges standing at €184.5 million, €59.3 million and €34.2 million respectively.

Iran’s trade with Romania (€20.52 million) and Denmark (€15.81 million) increased by 280.8% and 173.6% respectively year-on-year, marking the highest registered by EU states.

Trade with Portugal (€139,140) and Finland (€26,360) saw the sharpest decline of 89.6%, and 87.7% respectively.

Iran exported €53.64 million worth of commodities to EU in December, indicating a 3.6% increase compared with December 2019.

The main export destinations in December were Germany (€20.7 million), Italy (€11.1 million) and Spain (€4.2 million).

Iran’s exports to Estonia, Lithuania and Austria experienced the highest year-on-year growth rates of 264%, 254% and 209% respectively.

This is while exports to Ireland, Slovenia and Portugal fell by 80.1%, 78% and 68% YOY respectively, which are the sharpest among EU member states.

Imports from EU declined by 10.63% in December to stand at €370.32 million.

The top three exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €163.84 million, Italy with €48.18 million and the Netherlands with €32.6 million worth of shipments to Iran.

Romania with €17.44 million and Greece with €1.81 million were EU countries whose exports to Iran saw the highest YOY increase (774.3% and 216.9% respectively).

Portugal with €24,000 and Finland with €11,690 experienced the sharpest YOY decline in exports to Iran (97.4% and 93.4% respectively).

Europe-Iran Business Forum

The Europe-Iran Business Forum was held via videoconference in March 1-3 with 3,000 participants for providing a basis for trading, scientific and technological cooperation to increase Iran's non-oil exports, IRNA reported.

The three-day forum was organized in collaboration with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, the European Union and the International ICT Center.

Economic players, experts in economic affairs and the press explored avenues for developing economic relations between Iran and Europe.

The themes covered in the forum included a new strategy for exporting Iranian goods and technical services to Europe, expanding relations between financial markets and banks of Iran and Europe, supporting European companies interested in investing in Iran despite current US sanctions, expansion of trading medicinal plants and auto components, marketing Iran's petrochemical products and IT services in Europe and surveying Europe’s investment landscape in Iran.

Mirhadi Seyyedi, a senior official of Trade Promotion Organization, said this event helped Iranian and European companies become familiar with each other and explore investment opportunities, as well as investment ideas.

Scholars from Iran and Europe gave educational lectures during the event on 12 topics with the purpose of improving Iranian companies' expertise and competence.

Middle Ease Director General in the European House (Ambrosetti) Luca Miraglia told IRNA that the forum served as an opportunity to improve trading capacity and expand exports from Iran to Europe.

"When it comes to US sanctions, one may think no interaction is possible. But I say that our mission is to make Europe's stance clear; one that has never changed since JCPOA was signed."

Spokesman for EU Foreign Policy Chief says the forum was a step toward developing and expanding bilateral trade relations, Mehr News Agency reported.

Speaking in a news conference, Peter Stano added that the event paves the way for Iranian and European economic enterprises to develop legitimate trade and business activities.

Facilitating bilateral trade, scientific and technological cooperation in line with spurring Iran’s export of non-oil goods has been cited as the main aim behind launching this prestigious forum, Stano said.