Iran reports historic surge in manufacturing activity
Iran has reported a historic record in the output of its large manufacturing sector for the year to late March.
Figures by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) cited in a Thursday report by IRNA showed that a CBI index that measures activity in Iran’s large manufacturing plants had increased by 9.6% in the year to March 20 compared to the year before.
“... it rose to the highest level in the history of the country’s manufacturing production,” said the report, adding that CBI’s Large Manufacturing Index had risen by 3.1%, 13.2% 9.5% and 12.8%, respectively, year on year over the four quarters of the past calendar year.
The figures covered industrial activity in some 2,400 factories with more than 100 employees across Iran.
It said the size of output in large plants had increased in 23 out of 24 manufacturing categories surveyed by the CBI, adding that 16 of those categories had reported double-digit growth compared to the year to March 2022.
Iranian motor vehicle industries were the best performers in the survey in the year to late March with some 31.8% of growth in their output, said the report.
Iran has increasingly relied on manufacturing in plans to diversify the economy away from oil as the country seeks to offset the impact American sanctions on its crude oil exports.
Experts say the policy has also helped Iran overcome its employment problems while leading to increased presence of the country’s private sector in major investment and development projects.