Iran’s non-oil trade with 15 neighboring countries topped $12.3 billion in the first quarter of the Iranian calendar year (starting on March 21), the customs office said on Saturday.
Rouhollah Latifi, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, said Iran traded nearly 21 million tons of commodities worth $12.3 billion with its neighbors during the spring – 18% up compared with the same period a year earlier.
Latifi added that cross-border trade accounted for 51% of Iran’s total non-oil exports, which showed a 20% growth.
“Out of Iran’s overall exports of 27.6 million tons of goods in the spring, valued at $13.7 billion, more than 16 million tons, worth over $6.7 billion, were destined for neighboring countries,” he pointed out.
Iraq was Iran’s largest trade partner among neighbors. Exports to Iraq exceeded $1.8 billion over the period. Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Oman were, respectively, among top export destinations of Iranian goods, the spokesman said.
According to Latifi, Iran’s cross-border trade balance remained in surplus, with $1.1 billion, as imports from neighboring countries in the spring amounted to more than $5.6 billion.
The UAE, he said, was the largest supplier of goods to Iran in the spring, whose exports amounted to over $3.4 billion.
