!!!Iran: Economy
Iran's economy is marked by statist policies, inefficiencies, and reliance on oil and gas exports, but Iran also possesses significant agricultural, industrial, and service sectors. The Iranian government directly owns and operates hundreds of state-owned enterprises and indirectly controls many companies affiliated with the country's security forces. Distortions - including inflation, price controls, subsidies, and a banking system holding billions of dollars of non-performing loans - weigh down the economy, undermining the potential for private-sector-led growth. \\  \\ Private sector activity includes small-scale workshops, farming, some manufacturing, and services, in addition to medium-scale construction, cement production, mining, and metalworking. Significant informal market activity flourishes and corruption is widespread. \\  \\ Fiscal and monetary constraints, following the expansion of international sanctions in 2012 on Iran's Central Bank and oil exports, significantly reduced Iran's oil revenue, forced government spending cuts, and sparked a sharp currency depreciation. Iran’s economy contracted for the first time in two decades during both 2012 and 2013, but growth resumed in 2014. Iran continues to suffer from high unemployment and underemployment. Lack of job opportunities has prompted many educated Iranian youth to seek employment overseas, resulting in a significant "brain drain." \\  \\ In June 2013, the election of President Hasan RUHANI generated widespread public expectations of economic improvement and greater international engagement. Almost two years into his term, RUHANI has achieved some success, including reining in inflation and, in July of 2015, securing the promise of sanctions relief for Iran by signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P5+1. The JCPOA, which severely limits Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for unfreezing Iranian assets and reopening Iran to international trade, should bolster foreign direct investment, increase trade, and stimulate growth. In spite of RUHANI’s efforts, Iran’s growth was tepid in 2015, and significant economic improvement resulting from sanctions relief will take months or years to materialize.
!!Economic Facts
||GDP (purchasing power parity)|$1.459 trillion (2016 est.) \\ $1.397 trillion (2015 est.) \\ $1.391 trillion (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||GDP (official exchange rate)|$412.3 billion (2015 est.)
||GDP - real growth rate|4.5% (2016 est.) \\ 0.4% (2015 est.) \\ 4.3% (2014 est.)
||GDP - per capita (PPP)|$18,100 (2016 est.) \\ $17,600 (2015 est.) \\ $17,700 (2014 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are in 2016 dollars \\ 
||Gross national saving|33% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 31.7% of GDP (2015 est.) \\ 34.5% of GDP (2014 est.)
||GDP - composition, by end use|''household consumption'': 50.8% \\ ''government consumption'': 10% \\ ''investment in fixed capital'': 27.1% \\ ''investment in inventories'': 6.1% \\ ''exports of goods and services'': 23.2% \\ ''imports of goods and services'': -17.2% (2016 est.) \\ 
||GDP - composition, by sector of origin|''agriculture'': 9.1% \\ ''industry'': 39.9% \\ ''services'': 51% (2016 est.) \\ 
||Agriculture - products|wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, sugarcane, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar
||Industries|petroleum, petrochemicals, gas, fertilizers, caustic soda, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), ferrous and nonferrous metal fabrication, armaments
||Industrial production growth rate|4.5% (2016 est.)
||Labor force|29.75 million \\ ''__note__'': shortage of skilled labor (2016 est.) \\ 
||Labor force - by occupation|''agriculture'': 16.3% \\ ''industry'': 35.1% \\ ''services'': 48.6% (2013 est.) \\ 
||Unemployment rate|10.7% (2016 est.) \\ 10.5% (2015 est.) \\ ''__note__'': data are according to the Iranian Government \\ 
||Population below poverty line|18.7% (2007 est.)
||Household income or consumption by percentage share|''lowest 10%'': 2.6% \\ ''highest 10%'': 29.6% (2005) \\ 
||Distribution of family income - Gini index|44.5 (2006)
||Budget|''revenues'': $65.87 billion \\ ''expenditures'': $72.29 billion (2016 est.) \\ 
||Taxes and other revenues|16% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)|-1.6% of GDP (2016 est.)
||Public debt|11.9% of GDP (2016 est.) \\ 11.4% of GDP (2015 est.) \\ ''__note__'': includes publicly guaranteed debt \\ 
||Fiscal year|21 March - 20 March
||Inflation rate (consumer prices)|8% (2016 est.) \\ 13.7% (2015 est.) \\ ''__note__'': official Iranian estimate \\ 
||Central bank discount rate|NA%
||Commercial bank prime lending rate|13% (31 December 2016 est.) \\ 14.2% (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of narrow money|$40.23 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $38.44 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of broad money|$363.4 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $307.1 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of domestic credit|$54.76 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $47.04 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Market value of publicly traded shares|$89.43 billion (31 December 2015 est.) \\ $116.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.) \\ $345.8 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
||Current account balance|$17.2 billion (2016 est.) \\ $8.234 billion (2015 est.)
||Exports|$87.52 billion (2016 est.) \\ $64.6 billion (2015 est.)
||Exports - commodities|petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets, cement, ore
||Exports - partners|China 22.2%, India 9.9%, Turkey 8.4%, Japan 4.5% (2015)
||Imports|$62.12 billion (2016 est.) \\ $52.42 billion (2015 est.)
||Imports - commodities|industrial supplies, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services
||Imports - partners|UAE 39.6%, China 22.4%, South Korea 4.7%, Turkey 4.6% (2015)
||Reserves of foreign exchange and gold|$135.5 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $110 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Debt - external|$7.116 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $5.348 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of direct foreign investment - at home|$46.1 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $43.05 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad|$4.656 billion (31 December 2016 est.) \\ $4.097 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
||Exchange rates|Iranian rials (IRR) per US dollar - \\ 30,462.1 (2016 est.) \\ 29,011.5 (2015 est.) \\ 29,011.5 (2014 est.) \\ 25,912 (2013 est.) \\ 12,176 (2012 est.)