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Iran's imports, compared with the period before the 1979 Revolution, have become more balanced and diversified. This has led to a rise in the share of the developing countries and a fall in that of the industrial states. Iran's non-oil exports too, have registered an eye-catching increase to the extent that the ratio of non-oil exports to imports which stood at 0.04 in 1978 has reached 0.4 at the time being.

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Despite all the developments and shock the country went through, such as the Islamic Revolution, the economic sanctions, and the Iraqi imposed war against Iran, the performance of the foreign trade over the past 15 years, has been very good. The improvement has been to the extent that the economy is gradually getting rid of reliance on a single product and is becoming self-reliant.

In the wake of the rise in the oil prices in early 1970s, the country's imports registered a sharp increase. They reached $14,624 in 1978 (the year before the Islamic Revolution) from $3,737 in the year 1974. In that year (1978), 54.2% of the total imports were raw materials and intermediate goods, 27.2% were capital goods, and 18.6% were consumer goods.

In the same year, about 87% of the imports came from the industrial countries with Germany having a share of 19.1%, the United States 16%, Japan 15.9%, the United Kingdom 7.1%, Italy 5.5%, France 4.5%, the Netherlands 3.3%, and Switzerland 3%. The East bloc countries supplied only 5.4% of Iran's imports with the former Soviet Union having 1.9% of the share. Iran's imports from other world countries constituted only 7.5% of the total imports.

Following the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, the U.S. share of Iran's imports registered a sharp fall and instead the share of the developing countries and to some extent, that of the East bloc states, increased. As a result, the share of the industrial countries dropped to 69.1% in 1981, and that of the East bloc countries increased to 7.2% and that of the developing states to 23.7% in the same year.

Presently, the import policy of the country has become more balanced and diversified so that among the twenty countries which are the main exporters to Iran, six developing states (the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Korea, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Turkey and Brazil) constitute 20% of Iran's imports. China and Russia are also among these twenty countries.

Iran's main imports are machinery and other equipment, basic metals and their products and chemicals which make up for three fourth of the country's imports.

The performance of the non-oil exports of the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly after the Iraqi imposed war (1980-1988), has been praiseworthy.

During the First Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan of the country (1989-1993), the non-oil exports increased by almost 3.5 folds. They increased from $1.04 billion in 1989 to $3.74 billion in 1993. This upward trend continued in the year 1994 so that non-oil exports in the mentioned year amounted to $4.4 billion.

Thus the ratio of non-oil exports to imports which stood at 0.04 in 1978, has now reached 0.4. The introduction of a realistic equivalent rate for the foreign exchange, removal of red tape and bureaucratic laws and regulations, and exploitation of production and infrastructural projects, such as steel mills and petrochemical complexes, have played a significant in this success.

In the years before the Revolution, about 45% of the country's non-oil exports found their way into the industrial countries of the world, the East bloc countries received about 29%, and other countries 26% of these exports. Among the industrial countries, West Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom had the highest shares. The former Soviet Union was a main importer of Iran's non-oil goods among other world countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Taiwan and China were the main importers.

At present the geographical distribution of Iran's non-oil exports has become more diverse and balanced so that among the major importers of goods from Iran, there are nine developed industrial countries, nine developing countries as well as China and Russia.

The nature of the non-oil export commodities of the country has relatively improved, and although goods such as carpets and pistachios have a major share in the exports, those from chemical industries and the melting of metals have increased considerably during recent years. It is expected that the share of industrial goods will rise in the non-oil exports in future with the completion of infrastructural and industrial projects of the country.

The strategic location of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a bridge linking the newly independent countries of the Central Asia also portends that Iran will become one of the major centers for transit of goods in a near future and thanks to this, the export of services will also increase. Certain Central Asian countries such as Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have become major trade partners of Iran at present, and once the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) becomes more active, it is expected that the volume of exchanges between these countries would grow.

The connection of the railways of these countries to each other, the plan to transfer Turkmen gas via Iran, as well as the establishment of joint shipping and airline companies, indicate the willingness of these countries to have broader cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its continuation and consolidation will have significant effects on the economy of these countries.

Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Economic report and balance sheet of various years

- Customs Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Statistics on foreign trade of years 1371, 1372

Table (2), Nature of the Country's non-oil exports according to the kind of usage

Unit: Million Dollars

Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Customs Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran