These units have created more than 290,000 direct jobs, accounting for 13% of all industrial jobs in Iran.
The above figures were reported by director general of Textile and Clothing Department at the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, Afsaneh Mehrabi, as reported by the ministry’s official news service Shata.
The textile and apparel industry is one of the oldest, biggest and the most important industries in the world, which has been able to gain a strong industrial, economic and social position in terms of high job creation, earnings and added value in most countries, including advanced economies, Financial Tribune reported.
The industry has a major share in developing a country’s industrial production, job creation and exports, and plays an important role in those countries’ advancement.
The global textile and apparel industry’s exports, amounting to $800 billion per annum, make up 6.5% of the world’s industrial exports and 4.5% of the world’s total exports.
Iran’s textile and clothing industry’s $850 million worth of annual exports (excluding hand-woven carpets) constitute a 0.1% share in global markets.
Including hand-woven carpets, the figure stood at more than $1.2 billion in the last Iranian year (March 2016-17).
“Textile exports alone stood at over $620 million last year, registering a 1% increase year-on-year,” Mehr News Agency quoted Alireza Haeri, former chairman of the Association of Iran Textile Industries as saying.
Textile flooring topped the list of exports in this sector, with a 45% share (around $280 million).
According to Mehrabi, Iran is the 36th biggest exporter of textile products and the 90th biggest exporter of apparel in the world.
Taking into account both textile and clothing products, the ranking stands at 59th.
As for imports, over $1.6 billion worth of textile products were imported into Iran last year. Taking into account the related equipment and machinery, the figure reaches $1.9 billion.
The main import was fabrics worth $500 million–70% more compared to the previous year. Other major products imported were fiber ($440 million) and yarn ($300 million).
In addition, the import of black fabrics used to make chador (a full body-length fabric worn by many Iranian women) saw a 73% increase compared to the year before to stand at $125 million.
The above-mentioned value of imports, Haeri said, only pertains to legal imports.
To reach a more realistic figure on the total amount of imports, a further $2-3 billion should be added to include illegal imports, which would bring the total amount of textile product into Iran last year to $4-5 billion.