Germany Still Iran’s Major European Trade Partner

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – According to the released statistics by Eurostat, the trade volume between Iran and EU was around 5.2b euros in 2019 and the figure shows considerable 72 percent  decline in their trades.

According to Tehran Chamber of Commerce reporting the Eurostat figures, the trade between Iran and EU states fell sharply in 2019 as their bilateral trade faced 72 percent fall and the total trade volume stood at 5.2b euros.

The figure shows the value of exported goods to Iran decreased by 49 percent while the value of exported goods to EU fell by 93 percent.

The statistics show that Iran’s trade balance with EU became negative and was around 3.8b euros in 2019 while in 2018, Iran’s trade balance with EU was positive and around 0.06 percent.

In 2019, Iran exported goods worth over 701m euros to EU while the value of its exports decreased by 93 percent because of the U.S. sanctions.

The major fact behind the 93 percent fall in Iran exports to EU was the decrease in Iran’s export of oil products to those countries. The sharp fall in Iran’s oil product exports to EU accounted for 83 percent of the total 93 percent fall of Iran’s exports.

Meanwhile according to the Eurostat, Iran’s non-oil exports to EU states also tumbled 31 percent in 2019 comparing to 2018 and it stood at 687m euros.

In 2019, Iran’s exports to EU in terms of quantity faced fall of considerable amount of 97 percent and the country’s exports were just 661,000 tons while the figure was 21.6m tons in 2018.

The statistics show that Germany has been the major destination for Iran’s exports in Europe as the country exported goods to Germany worth of 192m euros. Of course the value of Iran’s exports to Germany also dropped by 52 percent in 2019 comparing to 2018. Italy and Spain were the next major destinations for Iran’s exports in EU bloc. The value of exported goods to Italy stood at 152m euros while the figure was 81m euros for Spain. The value of exports to both countries also fell by 95 and 96 percent respectively.

On the whole the statistics show that exports to only six countries of the 26-country EU bloc rose in 2019 comparing to 2018 but the rise was insignificant.

Bulgaria, Lithuania and Luxemburg are countries which witnessed growth of Iran’s exports in 2019. Greece is an EU state which witnessed the most fall in Iran’s exports and the value of Iran’s exports to Greece in 2019 decreased by 99 percent comparing to 2018.

Meanwhile the value of Iran’s imports from EU was 4.5m euros in 2019 which shows drastic 49 percent fall comparing to 2018. But Iran’s imports from EU rose by 3 percent in terms of weight. Germany was the major European exporter to Iran as its exports to Iran in 2019 stood at 1.5m euros. The figure also shows 13 percent fall.