Iran, Islamic Rep.'s merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 49.32% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 21.16 percentage points from 28.16% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 49.32% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 30.5% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 28.16% | 2015 |
| Highest | 61.98% | 1993 |
| Lowest | 8.46% | 1986 |
| Average since 2016 | 34.06% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 28.48% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 11.01 percentage points on 2024 (from 38.31% to 49.32%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 23.8 percentage points in 1993 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.96 percentage points in 1972. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.87 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 65% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Iran, Islamic Rep. had the 105th highest value of the 188 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. | 49.32% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 42.78% | 2025 |
Closest to Iran, Islamic Rep. in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
General merchandise trade includes 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. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.32 |
| 2024 | 38.31 |
| 2023 | 35.67 |
| 2022 | 37.06 |
| 2021 | 29.64 |
| 2020 | 30.5 |
| 2019 | 30.91 |
| 2018 | 37.09 |
| 2017 | 27.88 |
| 2016 | 24.23 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Iran, Islamic Rep.
- 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)
- Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Iran, Islamic Rep.'s merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 49.32% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 20.83 percentage points from 28.48% in 1960. The highest value was 61.98% in 1993 and the lowest 8.46% in 1986.
- How does Iran, Islamic Rep. rank?
- 105th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Iran, Islamic Rep.?
- In 2025, Iran, Islamic Rep.'s merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 11.01 percentage points on 2024 (from 38.31% to 49.32%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.38 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, 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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