01Key Takeaways
- Iraq exported $105.73 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 15.26% from $124.77 billion in 2022.
- Mineral fuels, essentially all crude oil, made up 99.41% of exports ($105.10 billion), one of the most concentrated export profiles of any country.
- 95.84% of exports are recorded under an aggregated unspecified-destination category rather than a named country, a common feature of how bulk crude oil sales get reported.
- The UAE was Iraq's largest named export partner in the data, at just 2.70% of the total.
023-Year Trend
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $83.8B | $124.8B | $105.7B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Areas, nes | $101.3B | 95.8% |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | $2.9B | 2.7% |
| 3 | India | $473.0M | 0.4% |
| 4 | Netherlands | $363.2M | 0.3% |
| 5 | South Korea | $351.7M | 0.3% |
| 6 | Lebanon | $196.5M | 0.2% |
| 7 | Egypt | $44.8M | 0.0% |
| 8 | Switzerland | $33.2M | 0.0% |
| 9 | Syria | $26.8M | 0.0% |
| 10 | Jordan | $21.5M | 0.0% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $105.1B | 99.4% |
| 2 | Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils and their Cleavage Products; Prepared Edible Fats; Animal or Vegetable Waxes | $462.0M | 0.4% |
| 3 | Edible Fruit and Nuts; Peel of Citrus Fruit or Melons | $82.4M | 0.1% |
| 4 | Miscellaneous Chemical Products | $30.2M | 0.0% |
| 5 | Products of Animal Origin, not elsewhere specified or included | $12.4M | 0.0% |
| 6 | Oil Seeds and Oleaginous Fruits; Miscellaneous Grains, Seeds and Fruit; Industrial or Medicinal Plants; Straw and Fodder | $8.4M | 0.0% |
| 7 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $6.5M | 0.0% |
| 8 | Sugars and Sugar Confectionery | $4.9M | 0.0% |
| 9 | Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar | $3.9M | 0.0% |
| 10 | Organic Chemicals | $3.1M | 0.0% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Crude Oil Accounts for All but a Rounding Error of Iraq's Exports
Iraq exported $105.73 billion worth of goods in 2023. Mineral fuels, almost entirely crude oil, made up 99.41% of the total, worth $105.10 billion, one of the most concentrated export profiles of any country in the world. Iraq's oil is sold internationally through the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, with roughly 95% of the country's petroleum moving through southern Gulf terminals near Basra, generating around 90% of federal government revenue.
Every other export category is a rounding error by comparison. Animal and vegetable fats and oils added 0.44% ($462.02 million), and fruit and nuts, largely dates, contributed 0.08% ($82.41 million). The remaining seven categories, chemical products, animal-derived products, oil seeds, plastics, sugars, beverages, and organic chemicals, each individually make up a tiny fraction of a percent of total exports, underscoring just how completely oil defines what Iraq sells abroad.
Nearly All of Iraq's Exports Are Recorded Under an Unspecified Destination
95.84% of Iraq's exports in 2023, worth $101.33 billion, are recorded under an aggregated category labeled Areas, not elsewhere specified, rather than attributed to any single named country. That pattern is common in how bulk crude oil sales get reported. Cargoes are often sold FOB through tenders, and ownership or final destination can shift before the oil reaches a refinery, making it hard for national statistics offices to pin the trade to one buyer. Iraq's real customers are better known from independent market reporting than from its own trade statistics. Chinese refiners have bought tens of millions of barrels of Basrah crude in a single month, and Indian refiners have also received cargoes and chartered tankers to bring in Iraqi oil, both drawn by the discounts Iraq's state oil marketer regularly offers.
United Arab Emirates was the largest named partner in Iraq's own export data at 2.70% ($2.86 billion), followed by India at 0.45% ($472.99 million), Netherlands at 0.34% ($363.23 million), and South Korea at 0.33% ($351.66 million). Lebanon added 0.19% ($196.48 million), and the remaining named partners, Egypt, Switzerland, Syria, and Jordan, each account for less than 0.05% of the total.
A Short but Steep Trend: Exports Fell Sharply After a 2022 Peak
This dataset has confirmed export figures for Iraq covering only three years, 2021, 2022, and 2023, rather than the full five-year window available for most other countries. Exports stood at $83.83 billion in 2021, then surged to $124.77 billion in 2022 as global oil prices spiked following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The 2023 total of $105.73 billion, down 15.26% year over year, reflects oil prices cooling from that 2022 peak.
With a country this dependent on a single commodity, that kind of swing is the norm rather than the exception. Iraq's export total will keep moving primarily with the price of crude oil, since the physical volume Iraq ships out changes far more slowly than the price it fetches for each barrel.