Tehran, Iran — Trade between Iran and the European Union member states reached 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in the first half of 2023, according to Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat).
Trade between Iran and Germany accounted for half the value, Tasnim News Agency reported, adding the Iran-EU trade exchanges declined by 10 percent compared to the last year’s corresponding period.
Iran and EU member states had exchanged €2.584 billion in the first half of 2022.
According to this report, EU export of non-oil products to Iran was down from €2.31 billion in the first six months of 2022 to €1.894 billion in the same period this year.
Among EU member states, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands accounted for most of the export of products to Iran from January to June 2023.
EU import of products from Iran from January to June 2023 reached €419 million, showing a 24 percent decline compared to the same period of last year.
EU member states had imported €553 million worth of non-oil products from Iran from January to June 2022.
Meanwhile, Tasnim reported that Iran’s textile industry showed a 17.1 percent hike in production in 2022 compared to a year earlier, the director general of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade for Clothing and Textile Affairs said.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday on the occasion of organizing the first edition of the Specialized International Exhibition of Fabrics and Related Industries, Mohsen Gorji emphasized that this industry is a pioneering industry.
He put the number of existing industrial and production units involved in producing machine-made carpets in the country at 1,000.
Carpet is a competitive product, he said, adding that the value of the country’s export of machine-made carpets stands at $280 million.
Iran enjoys high capability and capacity in producing high-quality handwoven and machine-made carpets, Gorji emphasized.
The first Specialized International Exhibition of Fabrics and Related Industries will be held at Shahr-e-Aftab International Exhibitions Center in Tehran on September 9-12 with the participation of more than 90 producers and suppliers of fabrics.