Figures extracted from Eurostat's database show Iran exported €206.4 million worth of goods to the union’s member states, recording a 51.2% increase compared with third quarter of 2019.
Germany remained the top destination for Iranian goods during the three-month period, importing €72.2 million worth of goods from Iran, 67.8% higher year-on-year.
The Netherlands came next with €54.4 million worth of imports. A year-on-year comparison of the figures indicates that Iran’s exports to Netherlands grew by more than 1,065% during the third quarter of the year.
Italy with €25.2 million (up 1.94%), Spain with €10.5 million (down 43%) and Romania with €9.1 million (up 25.5%) were the other leading European destinations for Iranian goods.
Iran imports from EU member states declined by 30% to €854 million in Q3, 2020.
Germany accounted for the largest portion of exports to Iran with €307.3 million, down 29%, followed by Italy (€151 million), the Netherlands (€87 million) and France (€74.9 million).
Slovakia registered the highest growth of 158.9% in bilateral trade with Iran during the three months under review.
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 in different countries that cooperate with Eurostat are summarized under the concept of the European Statistical System.
Q1-3 Trade at €3.2 Billion
Trade between Iran and EU member states during January-September stood at €3.29 billion to register a 12.3% plunge compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were Iran’s top three trading partners in the European bloc with bilateral exchanges standing at €1.13 billion, €500.7 million and €378.13 million respectively.
Iran’s trade with Slovakia (€9.6 million) increased by 176% year-on-year—the highest among EU states. Iran's trade with Germany grew by 5.5% during the nine months under review, which is the highest among leading European trade partners of Iran.
Iran exported €554.1 million worth of commodities to EU during the nine-month period, indicating an 11.7% growth compared with the similar period of previous year.
The main export destinations over the period were Germany (€204 million), Netherlands (€106.2 million), Italy (€77.1 million) and Spain (€42.8 million).
Top exported goods included edible fruit and nuts; fruit zest worth €183.69 million; mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes worth €92.36 million; iron and steel worth €83.39 million; plastics and articles thereof worth €44.93 million; pharmaceutical products worth €26 million; coffee, tea, mate and spices worth €25.72 million; products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included worth €25.11 million; organic chemicals worth €21.45 million; iron and steel products worth €18.69 million; carpets and other textile floor coverings worth €14.55 million and articles of iron or steel worth €14.27 million.
Q1-3 imports from the EU dropped by 15.94% to €2.74 billion during the nine months under review.
The top five exporters from the European bloc to Iran were Germany with €1.1 billion, Italy with €423.6 million, the Netherlands with €271.92 million, France with €190.29 million and Spain with €150.9 million worth of shipments to Iran.
Imports mainly included nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof worth €608.25 million; pharmaceutical products worth €386 million; optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof worth €289.1 million; and cereals worth €282.8 million.
These also featured electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; and sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles worth €132.4 million; organic chemicals worth €78.5 million; miscellaneous chemical products worth €76.3 million; oilseeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants worth €74.8 million; plastics and articles thereof worth €60.5 million; and essential oils and resinoids; and perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations worth €46 million.
Other imported products included miscellaneous edible preparations worth €41.4 million; railroad or tramway locomotives, rolling stock and parts thereof; mechanical (including electromechanical) traffic signaling equipment of all kinds worth €38 million; manmade staple fibers worth €37.7 million; tanning or dying extracts and their derivatives, dyes, pigments and other coloring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks worth €34.9 million; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes worth €33.8 million; paper, paperboard and paper pulp worth €33 million; iron and steel products worth €31.2 million; inorganic chemicals, organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes with €28.1; vehicles other than railroad or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof worth €23.4 million; and albuminoidal substances, modified starches, glues and enzymes worth €21.1 million.
The decline in Iran-EU trade in recent times was mainly due to unilateral US sanctions.
Iran and world powers signed a nuclear agreement in 2015 called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The deal’s main aim was to limit the scope of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions against Tehran.
The government of US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
The European Union vowed on Tuesday to save the Iran nuclear deal.
"We will redouble our efforts to preserve the agreement and return to its full implementation by all parties," European Commission Spokesman Peter Stano was quoted as saying by DW.