Plate 05 · Trade
Iran: a small trade footprint, mostly next door
Each map shows how much of a country's goods trade is with Iran; the darker the country, the bigger the tie. Between 1995 and 2025 the number of countries doing at least a tenth of their trade with Iran went from 2 to 1.
Countries doing at least a tenth of their goods trade with Iran, 1995 to 2025 (of 174 and 208 with data). Peak: 2 in 1995.
Countries where Iran is the largest trading partner (EU counted as one bloc), 1995 to 2025.
Largest fall in share with Iran among economies with at least US$ 1 bn of trade: 20% to 1%.
Largest rise in share with Iran: 0% to 4%.
1995 → 2005 → 2012 → 2018 → 2025
Reach, measured
Share of countries with data that do at least a tenth (10%) of their goods trade with each power. The Iran line is the story; the others give scale. Dashed lines mark the years mapped above.
Show the numbers behind the chart
| Year | Iran | Türkiye | UAE | Saudi Arabia | Countries with data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1.1% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2.9% | 174 |
| 1996 | 0.7% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 2.1% | 142 |
| 1997 | 1.1% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 1.7% | 178 |
| 1998 | 0.6% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 2.2% | 180 |
| 1999 | 0.6% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 157 |
| 2000 | 0.0% | 0.5% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 192 |
| 2001 | 0.0% | 0.5% | 2.1% | 2.1% | 188 |
| 2002 | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 193 |
| 2003 | 0.5% | 1.0% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 194 |
| 2004 | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2.6% | 3.7% | 191 |
| 2005 | 0.5% | 1.1% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 188 |
| 2006 | 0.5% | 1.0% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 193 |
| 2007 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 200 |
| 2008 | 0.0% | 0.5% | 3.5% | 2.5% | 198 |
| 2009 | 0.0% | 1.0% | 3.6% | 2.1% | 194 |
| 2010 | 0.0% | 1.5% | 5.1% | 2.0% | 198 |
| 2011 | 0.0% | 2.0% | 5.1% | 2.5% | 198 |
| 2012 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 5.1% | 1.5% | 196 |
| 2013 | 1.0% | 2.5% | 5.1% | 1.5% | 198 |
| 2014 | 0.0% | 2.0% | 5.4% | 1.5% | 202 |
| 2015 | 0.5% | 2.5% | 4.5% | 2.0% | 200 |
| 2016 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 5.1% | 1.5% | 196 |
| 2017 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 5.0% | 1.5% | 199 |
| 2018 | 0.5% | 1.0% | 5.1% | 2.1% | 195 |
| 2019 | 0.5% | 2.1% | 6.2% | 1.5% | 195 |
| 2020 | 0.5% | 2.5% | 8.0% | 1.5% | 200 |
| 2021 | 0.5% | 2.5% | 6.9% | 2.0% | 202 |
| 2022 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 9.0% | 2.5% | 201 |
| 2023 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 8.3% | 2.0% | 204 |
| 2024 | 0.5% | 2.0% | 8.9% | 1.5% | 203 |
| 2025 | 0.5% | 1.9% | 9.1% | 1.9% | 208 |
Who moved most, 1995 to 2025
Share of each country's goods trade that is with Iran. Economies with at least US$ 1 bn of goods trade in both years, 128 countries compared.
Biggest falls
| Country | Then | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijan | 20% | 1% | −19 pts |
| Armenia | 12% | 4% | −8 pts |
| South Africa | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
| Sudan | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
| Morocco | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
| Romania | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
| Bulgaria | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
| Turkmenistan | 2% | 0% | −2 pts |
Biggest rises
| Country | Then | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tajikistan | 0% | 4% | +4 pts |
| Syria | 0% | 3% | +3 pts |
| Oman | 2% | 2% | +1 pts |
| Colombia | 0% | 0% | +0 pts |
| Kuwait | 1% | 1% | +0 pts |
| Iraq | 0% | 0% | +0 pts |
| Russia | 0% | 0% | +0 pts |
| Belarus | 0% | 0% | +0 pts |
What this plate does not show
Iran's reach runs largely through proxies, arms and energy rather than trade. Sanctions also make its trade partly invisible in official statistics, so read this plate as a floor.
Method, definitions and known gaps: how this is measured. Every figure on this page is computed from the IMF data when the site is built.