TEHRAN, Iran, June. 15
Trend:
The World Bank estimated that the continuation of import prohibitions by the Iranian government led to a decline of total imports in 2020/21 by 12 percent.
The Iran Economic Monitor of World Bank provides an update on key economic developments and policies. The Iran Economic Monitor is a product of the World Bank’s Global Practice for Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment (MTI) team. It published the latest report on economic developments of Iran on June 15, Trend reports.
According to the report, imports of goods in the last Iranian year (March 2020 to March 2021) was about US$38 billion, of which about 30 percent were essential goods (primarily corn, soybeans, rice, oil, and oilseeds) and the remainder consisted mainly of intermediate goods (raw materials machinery and equipment).
“Import substitution and restrictions measures continued in last Iranian year (ended on March 21, 2021),” the report said. “Non-tariff import control policies, including the allocation of preferential exchange rates for essential goods, have proved challenging.”
The World Bank said that while the government still provides preferential exchange rates for imports of essential goods, the allocated amount has reduced significantly from US$30.5 million in 2018/19 to US$10.5 million in 2020/21.
The report said that Iran’s main import partners remained the same in 2020/21, albeit trading at lower levels.
Iran continued to import goods from the same countries as before in the last Iranian year (March 2020, to March 2021), the report said while adding that the trade restrictions and difficulties in accessing foreign reserves have led to a decline in imports.
“The total value of imports from the top import partners declined dramatically except for the UAE, which expanded by 8 percent,” it said. “Imports from India plunged by 43 percent and those from Germany, Turkey, and China declined by about 13–14 percent in 2020/21.”
The US sanctions and the pandemic increased the concentration in import partners as the top five import partners account for 72 percent of total import in the last two years, compared to a 58 percent share in 2017/18 to 2018/19.