01Key Takeaways
- Iran imported $58.73 billion worth of goods in 2022, the most recent year with confirmed trade data available in this dataset, up 10.89% from $52.96 billion in 2021.
- Cereals, largely wheat, led every import category at 14.45% ($8.49 billion), reflecting years of drought-hit domestic harvests.
- Machinery and electrical machinery together made up nearly a quarter of imports, much of it routed through intermediary trading hubs.
- The UAE supplied 30.66% of imports, worth $18.01 billion, by far Iran's largest source.
024-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $44.0B | $38.8B | $53.0B | $58.7B |
03Top Import Markets (2022)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | $18.0B | 30.7% |
| 2 | China | $15.6B | 26.5% |
| 3 | Turkey | $6.1B | 10.4% |
| 4 | India | $2.7B | 4.6% |
| 5 | Germany | $1.9B | 3.2% |
| 6 | Russia | $1.5B | 2.6% |
| 7 | Switzerland | $1.2B | 2.0% |
| 8 | United Kingdom | $948.3M | 1.6% |
| 9 | Netherlands | $904.2M | 1.5% |
| 10 | Pakistan | $781.2M | 1.3% |
04Top Import Categories (2022)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cereals | $8.5B | 14.5% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $7.5B | 12.8% |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $7.1B | 12.2% |
| 4 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $3.2B | 5.5% |
| 5 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $2.8B | 4.7% |
| 6 | Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils and their Cleavage Products; Prepared Edible Fats; Animal or Vegetable Waxes | $2.7B | 4.6% |
| 7 | Organic Chemicals | $2.2B | 3.8% |
| 8 | Oil Seeds and Oleaginous Fruits; Miscellaneous Grains, Seeds and Fruit; Industrial or Medicinal Plants; Straw and Fodder | $2.1B | 3.6% |
| 9 | Pharmaceutical Products | $1.9B | 3.3% |
| 10 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $1.8B | 3.0% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Wheat Imports Reflect Years of Drought-Hit Harvests
Iran imported $58.73 billion worth of goods in 2022, the most recent year for which confirmed trade data is available in this dataset. Cereals, largely wheat, led every category at 14.45% of the total, worth $8.49 billion, despite Iran having a substantial domestic grain-farming sector. Iran's wheat imports have run into the millions of tons in recent years, with domestic production falling roughly 31%, about 5 million tons, to around 11 million tons in one recent season, as drought and low government purchase prices discouraged farmers. That kind of harvest shortfall is what pushes cereals to the top of Iran's import list even in a country that grows a meaningful share of its own grain.
Machinery and mechanical appliances ranked second at 12.76% ($7.50 billion), and electrical machinery followed closely at 12.16% ($7.14 billion), together making up nearly a quarter of everything Iran imports. Commodities not specified according to kind took fourth at 5.50% ($3.23 billion), another opaque classification echoing the unspecified export categories covered on the other side of this story. The UAE functions as a major re-export hub through which Iranian companies obtain machinery, components, raw materials, and consumer goods originating elsewhere, with Dubai and Jebel Ali providing the logistics, intermediary, and financial channels that became essential once sanctions restricted Iran's ability to trade directly with much of the world. Vehicles added 4.74% ($2.79 billion), and animal, vegetable, and microbial fats and oils, largely cooking oil, contributed 4.58% ($2.69 billion).
Organic chemicals took 3.81% ($2.24 billion), and oil seeds and oleaginous fruits added 3.59% ($2.11 billion), inputs into Iran's cooking-oil and food-processing industries. Pharmaceutical products contributed 3.27% ($1.92 billion), a category that has often received humanitarian exemptions even under broad sanctions regimes, and plastics and articles thereof closed out the top ten categories at 2.99% ($1.75 billion).
The UAE and China Together Supply More Than Half of Iran's Imports
United Arab Emirates supplied 30.66% of Iran's imports in 2022, worth $18.01 billion, by far the largest single source, reflecting Dubai's role as a trading and re-export hub for goods that ultimately end up in Iran. China followed at 26.50% ($15.56 billion), and Turkey took 10.36% ($6.08 billion). Together, these top three suppliers made up 67.52% of total import value, an unusually high concentration compared with most other countries' import profiles.
India added 4.59% ($2.69 billion), and Germany contributed 3.21% ($1.89 billion), despite the restrictions most European firms face doing business with Iran directly. Russia took 2.60% ($1.53 billion), and Switzerland added 2.00% ($1.18 billion), a market long associated with humanitarian and pharmaceutical trade channels exempted from broader sanctions. United Kingdom contributed 1.61% ($948.33 million), and Netherlands took 1.54% ($904.17 million). Pakistan closed out the top ten list at 1.33% ($781.18 million).
Imports Climbed in 2022, With the Same Gap in the Data Beyond It
Iran's import total climbed across the years with confirmed data. It stood at $43.98 billion in 2019, then fell to $38.80 billion in 2020 as the pandemic curtailed global trade. It rebounded to $52.96 billion in 2021, then continued climbing to $58.73 billion in 2022, up 10.89% year over year. As on the export side of Iran's trade data, this dataset has no confirmed figure for 2023 or later, so 2022 marks the end of what can currently be tracked here.
That import growth ran alongside the 20.26% jump in Iran's exports over the same year, both sides of the country's trade climbing together in 2022. Whether that pace continued past 2022 isn't something this dataset can confirm, though the trading and re-export channels described above have generally proven durable over time, adapting to changing circumstances rather than shutting down entirely.