Merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran
Iran: Merchandise exports to high-income economies was 19.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran, 1964–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran is 19.1%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.9% on the previous year and down 28.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran peaked at 87.5% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 17.9%, in 2022.
Iran ranks 189th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 48 years of available data.
Merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 73.2% | — |
| 1965 | 78.7% | +7.6% |
| 1966 | 81.0% | +2.8% |
| 1967 | 82.3% | +1.7% |
| 1968 | 79.8% | -3.1% |
| 1981 | 74.5% | -6.6% |
| 1982 | 82.9% | +11.2% |
| 1983 | 79.5% | -4.1% |
| 1984 | 78.4% | -1.4% |
| 1985 | 76.9% | -1.9% |
| 1986 | 86.6% | +12.6% |
| 1987 | 83.0% | -4.2% |
| 1988 | 82.9% | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 87.5% | +5.5% |
| 1990 | 85.1% | -2.7% |
| 1991 | 85.4% | +0.4% |
| 1992 | 83.1% | -2.7% |
| 1993 | 83.4% | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 83.8% | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 77.6% | -7.4% |
| 1996 | 87.4% | +12.7% |
| 1997 | 81.7% | -6.5% |
| 1998 | 85.4% | +4.5% |
| 1999 | 84.8% | -0.7% |
| 2000 | 72.2% | -14.8% |
| 2001 | 68.7% | -4.8% |
| 2002 | 67.4% | -2.0% |
| 2003 | 69.4% | +3.0% |
| 2004 | 67.6% | -2.7% |
| 2005 | 66.1% | -2.3% |
| 2006 | 57.8% | -12.6% |
| 2007 | 54.7% | -5.4% |
| 2008 | 53.4% | -2.3% |
| 2009 | 49.0% | -8.2% |
| 2010 | 49.1% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 45.1% | -8.1% |
| 2012 | 36.2% | -19.6% |
| 2013 | 26.8% | -26.0% |
| 2014 | 23.2% | -13.4% |
| 2015 | 23.3% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 36.7% | +57.9% |
| 2017 | 40.1% | +9.2% |
| 2018 | 35.8% | -10.7% |
| 2019 | 20.9% | -41.6% |
| 2020 | 19.4% | -7.2% |
| 2021 | 20.2% | +4.3% |
| 2022 | 17.9% | -11.7% |
| 2023 | 19.1% | +6.9% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 19.1% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 65.7%, 29% of the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Iran's 19.1% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 55.1%, 35% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +57.9% | 23.3% | 36.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 79.0% | 73.2% | 82.3% | 5 |
| 1980s | 81.3% | 74.5% | 87.5% | 9 |
| 1990s | 83.8% | 77.6% | 87.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 62.6% | 49.0% | 72.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 33.7% | 20.9% | 49.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.1% | 17.9% | 20.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iran
More private sector data for Iran
- Merchandise trade 49.3% (2025)
- Food imports 29.5% (2022)
- Manufactures imports 58.1% (2022)
- Merchandise imports 65.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 5.9% (2022)
- Manufactures exports 31.3% (2022)
- Merchandise exports 113.22 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,225 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3122 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 0.5069 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran?
- Merchandise exports to high-income economies in Iran was 19.1% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise exports to high-income economies recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 87.5% in 1989.
- What is the lowest merchandise exports to high-income economies recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.9% in 2022.
- How does Iran rank for merchandise exports to high-income economies?
- Iran ranks 189th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise exports to high-income economies rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iran data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise exports to high-income economies are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to high-income economies according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.