Iran, Islamic Rep.'s food exports (% of merchandise exports) was 5.65% in 2023, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 0.19 percentage points from 5.46% in 2013.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 5.65% | 2023 |
| Five years earlier | 6.34% | 2018 |
| Ten years earlier | 5.46% | 2013 |
| Highest | 17.53% | 2020 |
| Lowest | 0.24% | 1977 |
| Average since 2014 | 8.68% | 2014–2023 |
| First recorded | 3.37% | 1963 |
What the numbers say
In 2023, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s food exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.28 percentage points on 2022 (from 5.93% to 5.65%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1967 to 2022), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 7.22 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.87 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2023, Iran, Islamic Rep. had the 18th highest value of the 23 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 5.65% | 2023 |
| World | 9.01% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 9.01% | 2025 |
Closest to Iran, Islamic Rep. in the 2023 ranking
- Timor-Leste — 14th of 23: 10.48%
- Viet Nam — 15th of 23: 9.36%
- Mali — 16th of 23: 6.17%
- Tajikistan — 18th of 23: 5.23%
- Mongolia — 19th of 23: 3.34%
- United Arab Emirates — 20th of 23: 2.89%
What this measures
Food comprises the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 0 (food and live animals), 1 (beverages and tobacco), and 4 (animal and vegetable oils and fats) and division 22 (oil seeds, oil nuts, and oil kernels). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.
Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 38 values
| Year | Food exports (% of merchandise exports) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 5.65 |
| 2022 | 5.93 |
| 2021 | 7.65 |
| 2020 | 17.53 |
| 2019 | 13.56 |
| 2018 | 6.34 |
| 2017 | 5.87 |
| 2016 | 7.35 |
| 2015 | 9.67 |
| 2014 | 7.3 |
| 2013 |
Food exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Iran, Islamic Rep.
- Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 49.32% (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$65.63 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$113.23 billion (2025)
- Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 30.34% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 50.61% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 48.54% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in South Asia (% of total merchandise imports) — 3.32% (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Iran, Islamic Rep.'s food exports (% of merchandise exports)?
- 5.65% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1963?
- It is up 2.28 percentage points from 3.37% in 1963. The highest value was 17.53% in 2020 and the lowest 0.24% in 1977.
- How does Iran, Islamic Rep. rank?
- 18th highest of 23 economies with data for 2023.
- Is the latest change in food exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Iran, Islamic Rep.?
- In 2023, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s food exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.28 percentage points on 2022 (from 5.93% to 5.65%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1967 to 2022), the average change was −0.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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