Iran's economic growth in the first nine months of 2018 was announced as "negative 3.8 percent."
In a report published on Sunday, April 15, the Statistical Center of Iran announced a negative economic growth of 3.8 percent in the country during the first nine months of 2018.
The details of the growth of various sectors of the country's economy show that the activities of the agricultural group grew by 2.1 percent, the industrial group by 7.9 percent, and the services group by 0.6 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
Economic growth (GDP growth) is the rate of change in the value of products and services produced in a period of time compared to the same period the previous year.
Iran's GDP with and without oil at constant prices in 2011 (thousand billion Tomans) Source: Statistics Center
Recently, the International Monetary Fund reported that Iran's economic growth, affected by US sanctions, was estimated to be negative 3.8% in 2018 and predicted that Iran's economic growth would be negative 6% in 2019.
What emerges from the report of the Statistics Center is that the effects of sanctions have had the greatest impact on Iran's industrial sector, including oil. Detailed statistics from the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade, along with assessments by the Statistics Center and the Central Bank of Iran, show that the sanctions had the greatest impact on the country's economy in the fall of last year, although we had to wait for the publication of the winter report, because the United States implemented sanctions on Iranian oil in mid-autumn (November), and its main impact should be sought in the data from the winter and beyond.
After the imposition of sanctions against Iran, the country's oil exports have fallen to about one million barrels, compared to 2.5 million barrels early last year.
On May 8 of last year, the United States withdrew from the six-power nuclear agreement with Iran and implemented two rounds of extensive sanctions against Tehran.
Industry sector
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade show that in the first nine months of last year, especially in the fall, apart from the decline in Iranian oil production and exports, some of the country's other industrial sectors also faced a significant decline in production.
Industrial product production in 2018 (Source: Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade)
Economic growth in the industrial sector (including oil) was 0.4% in the spring of last year, minus 2.8% in the summer, and minus 7.9% in the fall.
Exports of the Iranian industry group (minus crude oil and gas) also showed a decrease of about 5.4 percent in December compared to November 2018, mainly due to the decline in exports of mineral products (minus 4.9 percent), petrochemicals (minus 4.5 percent), and liquefied gas (minus 65.5 percent).
