Iran trade deficit reached new high to US$20.6 billion excluding oil, gas and service, said a report released in Tehran. According to Iran Annual Foreign Trade Survey, "The figure was 16.7 percent higher than in the same period last year."
The highest trade deficit was posted with Germany ($2.7 billion) followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) with $2.6 billion.
After these two countries, Iran posted $2.2 billion, $ 1.5 billion and $ 1.3 billion of trade deficits with France, Italy and China, respectively. the trade deficit with the five top states make up about 50% of the total Iranian trade deficit.
Trade surplus was recorded with Iraq ($492.7 million), Afghanistan ($258.1 million) and Azerbaijan ($ 210.9 million.)
Iran also had a $80.6 million trade surplus with the US in the said period.
Trade exchanges between Iran and the US stood at $120 million during the first half of 2004. Bilateral trade exchanges during the said period went down by 14 % compared to the volume in the year before.
The US exported $45 million worth of products to Iran during the period, say a $13 million drop compared with the figure in the corresponding period last year. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
