Iran

Iran is one of the richest countries in the Middle East. The development of Iran's economy is complicated by sanctions and legislative restrictions imposed on the country.

The agricultural sector accounts for 10% of Iran's GDP, 30% of GDP is produced by industry, including petrochemical, and 60% by the service sector.

Iran has a positive trade balance of 73%. 80% of exports are mineral resources, while only 1% of the population is engaged in their extraction. 45% of the state budget revenues come from oil and gas exports, 31% — from taxes and fees.

Iran's economy is quite dependent on foreign markets. Recently, special attention has been paid to the diversification of the Iranian economy, thanks to the development of such industries as precision engineering, nuclear industry, automotive engineering, rocket and space industry, as well as nanotechnology, medicine, information technology.

Iran has the third largest oil reserve after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and occupies 5.5% of the global oil products trading market.

Since 2008, Iran has been trading its oil on its own exchange in euros and rials. The main consumers of Iranian oil in 2017 were Europe (35.5%) and the Asia-Pacific region (64.5%). The main importing countries are: China (24%), India (18%), the Republic of Korea (14%), Turkey (9%), Italy (7%), Japan (5%), France (5%), other countries (18%).

Iran has 16% of the world's natural gas reserves. Iran, like Qatar, operate the same field. At the same time, Qatar is the world's largest exporter of LNG, while Iran produces mainly for the domestic market and supplies only a little to Turkey — about 6-8 billion m3.

The arable lands of Iran make up 20% of the entire territory of Iran. Most of these lands are located in the north, closer to the Caspian Sea, as well as in relatively humid valleys in the northwest. Some arable lands in the flat but arid southern provinces are equipped with irrigation systems. A total of 7.5 million hectares of land are irrigated.

Among the most important agricultural crops are wheat, barley, rice, legumes, cotton, sugar beet, sugar cane, tobacco, tea, nuts, pistachios. Animal husbandry is based on the breeding of sheep, goats, camels, cattle.

Fishing industry: rich fish resources due to the presence of the Caspian Sea; a significant global share in the production of caviar.

Extraction of oil, coal, gas, copper, iron, manganese and lead-zinc ores. There are oil refineries, petrochemical enterprises.

Mechanical engineering and metalworking are widely represented; Iran is one of the six countries in the world that produce steam and gas turbines. Also food, textile industries. Handicraft production of carpets and metalware is developed.

In recent years, the country's automotive industry has been growing rapidly. Cooperation with French automotive giants has also been established.

According to forecasts, the tourism sector of the economy is one of the most promising in the country; it is expected to grow by 10% in the coming years.

The main export items are crude oil and refined petroleum products, metal ores, agricultural products.

The main import items are heavy machinery and chemical industry products, automobiles, iron, steel, mineral raw materials, textiles, paper.

Iran's main trading partners include China, Japan, Germany, Russia, France, Italy and Turkey. Iran is a key member of the Economic Cooperation Organization, which includes the countries of Southwest Asia as well as the Central Asian republics of the former USSR.