Iran Economy

Iran's Economy

Iran's economy is a non-homogeneous mixture of state ownership of large enterprises, village based farming, low tech private manufacturing, and small-scale private trading. In many areas the government directly competes with the private sectors.

Pertinent Data:
GDP ......................................... GDP real growth rate ................ GDP per capita ......................... GDP composition by sector: Agriculture .............................. Industry .................................. Services ................................. Inflation rate (consumer prices) ..	$323.5 billion (1995 est.) -2% (1995 est.) $4,700 (1995 est.) 21% 37% 42% (1994 est.) 60% (1995 est.)

Work Force:
Labor force ............................ By occupation ..................... note .................................... Unemployment rate ................	15.4 million agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21% shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.) over 30% (1995 est.)
Education: (1994 est.) Literacy ................................. total population ...................... male ...................................... female ....................................	age 15 and over can read and write 72.1% 78.4% 65.8%
Health: (1992) Infant mortality rate ................ Life expectancy .....................	64/1,000 65 years

Budget:
Revenues ........................................... Expenditures: ..................................... Industries: .......................................... Industrial production growth rate ....... Exchange rate ...................................	$NA $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments 4.3% (1994 est.) (1994, unofficial): 2,600 rials= $U.S. (1997, unofficial): 4750 rials= $U.S.

Debt:

Iran has faced increasingly severe financial difficulties since mid-1992 due to an import surge that began in 1989. Iran was unable to meet its obligations on short-term debt in 1993; by the end of the year, it was $8- $9 billion in arrears on payments. Early in 1994, estimates of Iran's debt ranged from $16 billion to $30 billion. At yearend 1994, Iran rescheduled $12 billion in debt. Iran's financial situation remained tight in 1996 because the bulk of payments due under its rescheduling agreements in 1993-94 became due.

Exports:
Amount ...............	$18 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
Commodities .......	petroleum 85%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides, iron, steel. Oil accounts for about 85%-90% of Iran's exports. In 1993, Iran's OPEC quota was about 3.4 million barrels per day, and estimated production was 3.5 million barrels per day.
Partners ..............	Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Spain, and Germany

Imports:
Amount ..............	$13 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
Commodities ......	machinery, military supplies, metal works, food, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
Partners .............	Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, France, UAE

Agriculture:
Products.........	wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar, not self-sufficient in food.

Open market in Sarri

Industry:
Types ...........	petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and building materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating (steel and copper).

Tehran Oil Refinery

Electricity:
Capacity ................................. Production ............................. Consumption per capita ..........	19,080,000 kW 50.8 billion kWh 745 kWh (1993)

Daz Dam

Natural resources:
Type ........................	Petroleum, natural gas, and some mineral deposits.

Transportation:
Railways: Total ........................ Broad gauge ............ Standard gauge ........	5,093 km 96 km 1.676-m gauge 4,997 km 1.432-m gauge (146 km electrified) (1995)

Highways:

Total .......................
Paved ....................
Unpaved .................

140,200 km
42,700 km
97,500 km (1995 est.)

Waterways:
Detail ..............	904 km; the Arvand Rud is usually navigable by maritime traffic. About 130 km; channel has been dredged to 3 m and is in use.

Ports:
Detail .............	Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war), Ahvaz, Bandar Beheshti, Bandar-e 'Abbas, Bandar-e Anzali, Bandar-e Bushehr, Bandar-e Khomeyni, Bandar-e Mah Shahr, Bandar-e Torkeman, Jazireh-ye Khark, Jazireh-ye Lavan, Jazireh-ye Sirri, Khorramshahr (limited operation since November 1992), Now Shahr

Passenger boat at Bandar Abbas

Merchant marine:
Total ..................... Ships by type ........	130 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,791,892 GRT/4,891,615 DWT bulk 47, cargo 41, chemical tanker 5, combination bulk 2, liquefied gas tanker 1, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 19, refrigerated cargo 3, roll-on/roll-off cargo 9, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 (1995 est.)

Airports:
Total ................. (1995 est.) Heliports ..........	212 with paved runways over 3 047 m 30 with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m 11 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m 31 with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m 17 with paved runways under 914 m 22 with unpaved runways over 3 047 m 1 with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m 2 with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m 10 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m 12 (1995 est.)

International Mehrabad Airport

Pipelines:
Crude oil ......................... Petroleum products ......... Natural gas ......................	5,900 km 3,900 km 4,550 km

Communications:

Telephones ..............................		3.02 million (1992 est.)
Telephone system
Domestic .......................		microwave radio relay extends throughout country; system centered in Tehran satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean Region);
International ...................		HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE
Radio broadcast stations ..........		AM 77, FM 3, shortwave 0
Radios		14.3 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations ....		28
Televisions ...............................		3.9 million (1992 est.)

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