EU-Iran Foreign Trade in January 2020 generated 387 mil­li­on Euro.

The 28 EU coun­­tries exported goods worth € 309 million Euro to Iran and imported goods worth € 78 million.  Germany was the most important EU trade partner of Iran, with a trade vol­ume of 149 million Euro, fol­lowed by Italy (50 million Euro) and the Netherlands 34 mil­lion Euro).

The European Union (EU28) export of goods to Iran in January 2020 stood at 309 million Euro, a de­crea­se of 30% com­­pared to December 2019 but 12% more compared to January 2019. Accor­ding to the la­test da­ta by Euro­stat, the sta­tis­tical of­fice of the European Union, 39% of the EU ex­­ports to Iran ca­me from Ger­­­many, which de­­­li­ve­red goods worth €119 million, that was 32% less than in December 2019 but 17% more than in January 2019. Second (12%) was Italy with ex­ports worth € 37 million (-53% Jan/Dec resp. -5% Jan/Jan), fol­lowed by the Ne­ther­­­lands (€ 32 million, -28% Jan/Dec. resp. -2% Jan/Jan) and France (€ 20 million, -35% Jan/Dec and -20% Jan/Jan). 

In January 2020 the 28 EU countries imported goods worth € 78 million from Iran, (an in­crea­se of 47% compared with Dec. 2019 and an increase of 45% compared with January 2019. Most of the  Iranian ex­ports to the Eu­­ro­pean Union (38%) go to Germany, which imported goods worth   30 million from Iran (+103% Jan/Dec resp. 41% Jan/Jan ), fol­­lowed by Italy  (€ 13 million, +46 Jan/Dec resp +38% Jan/Jan) and Spain (€11 million, +33% Jan/Dec resp. +103% Jan/Jan).

TEHRAN-TIMES:   The value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $85 billion in the past Iranian ca­len­dar year of 1398 (ended on March 19, 2020), the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi put the weight of the country’s annual non-oil trade at 170 million tons and said this amount of trade was achieved despite the severe sanctions, IRNA reported. The official further pointed to the measures taken by IRICA in the past year including facilitation of trade and removing customs barriers in line with supporting the government’s plans in different sec­tors. As one of the major organizations helping economic growth, IRICA launched smart cus­toms project in the previous year as a move to meet today’s requirements in trade sector, Mir-Ashrafi underscored. The value of Iran’s non-oil exports stood at $44.3 billion in the Iranian ca­lendar year of 1397 (ended on March 20, 2019) while $42.6 billion worth of commodities were shipped into the country.

Tasnim:    Iran’s Interior Ministry announced that implementing a social distancing plan to con­tain the spread of the novel coronavirus will begin in the country on Friday.

The Social-Law Enforcement Committee of the Coronavirus Battle National Headquarters at the Interior Ministry said the plan’s measures, including not holding gatherings and eliminating un­nec­essary travels, will be implemented starting early Friday morning and continue until April 3.

Implementations of the plan could be extended beyond that date if a decision is made by the head­quarters, it added.

According to the plan, inter-city trips will be banned and only locals would be allowed to enter ci­ties and towns. Also, all parks as well as any sites that might draw large clusters of people, in­cluding pools, tourist sites, promenades, etc, will be closed. Holding any official or unofficial events that could draw crowds will also be banned during this period. Speaking about the plan­ned new measures on Wednesday, spokesman for the Iranian administration Ali Rabiei said that public offices and businesses are all ordered closed, except for stores supplying groceries and basic supplies, until April 3. The Judiciary is set to announce the legal implications of viola­ting the measures, and the Law Enforcement Force is required to act upon the announcement, Rabiei said. The policies should attain the status of a social agreement among all members of the nation, he said, adding that popular contribution to the measures would reduce the virus’ lifespan and the human cost that it could inflict.

The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) announced that the inflation rate in the twel­ve-month period ended on March 19, which marks the end of the last Iranian calen­dar month of Esfand, stood at 34,8 percent. The SCI said that the inflation rate has fallen 2.2 per­­cent in the menti­on­ed time span from the twelve-month period ended in the last day of the eleventh Iranian month of Bahman, SCI reported.

The center also announced that the point-to-point inflation rate has dropped 3.0 percent to 22.0 percent in the last month from its previous month. Point-to-point inflation has fallen 2.9 per­cent to 22.2 percent in the urban areas and slid 3.3 percent to 21.1 percent in the rural regi­ons on a monthly basis, the same report confirmed.