Iran’s economy shrinks by more than 10 percent amid war

Iran’s economy has contracted significantly amid the war with the United States and Israel. According to data from Iran’s Statistical Center, the country’s GDP fell 10.1 percent year-on-year between March 21 and June 20.

The period covers the first months of the US-Israeli war against Iran, which began on February 28.

The decline in the energy sector was even sharper. Oil and natural gas-related activity contracted by 26.4 percent. Excluding the oil sector, GDP fell by 4.6 percent.

Industry and mining contracted by 14.7 percent, services declined by 4.8 percent and manufacturing fell by 2.5 percent. Agriculture, however, grew by 2.3 percent.

The economic downturn came alongside high inflation and a weakening national currency. In August, the Iranian rial fell to more than 2.2 million rials per US dollar.

Oil exports also declined sharply. According to estimates by Kpler and Vortexa, Iranian crude oil and condensate loadings fell from nearly 2 million barrels per day in March to 740,000 barrels per day in July and 220,000–255,000 barrels per day in August.