IranDaily: Iran’s economy contracted significantly in the first quarter of the Persian calendar year, official data showed on Sunday.
Gross domestic product, including the petroleum sector, fell 10.1% in the three months to June 21 from the same period a year earlier, while GDP excluding oil contracted 4.6%, according to a report by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI).
The oil and gas extraction sector was the hardest hit, plunging 26.4%, while gas distribution dropped 21.3%. Output in other industrial and mining sectors also declined by more than 5% year-on-year. The transport, warehousing and communications sector posted 17% negative growth, while wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants slowed 3.9%. Agriculture was the exception, growing by more than 2% compared with the first quarter of the previous year.
The SCI had previously estimated economic growth in the preceding quarter at negative 2.2%. Two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth are generally considered a recession. Iran’s economy was hit during the period by a war launched by the United States and Israel in late February, followed by two naval blockades targeting Iranian ports and related vessels in the country’s south. The second blockade remains in place, making trade difficult.