The economic property in Iran is divided into three types of public (governmental), private, and cooperative. The public sector has got more than 50% of the capital and production of the country such as oil, petrochemistry, steel, mines and metals, water and power, air transport, railways, car fabrication, textile, and the greater plants producing alimentary products.
The process of privatization and the concession of public properties have got a quick tempo. Agriculture and industry are considered as the axis of economic growth and development in Iran. The production and export of industrial raw materials such as petrol, gas, and minerals are the main currency revenues of the country.
Iran is the second oil producing country having the greatest oil and gas reservoirs in the world. From production and export points of view, Iran is the first in steel, second in copper, first in carpets, pistachios, caviar, and, dates export. Tourism provides about 10 percent of the currency income of the country. Error processing SSI file

About one-fourth of Iran is comprised of farm lands. Most of these areas are in the northwestern part of the country. The plains of Gorgan and Gonabad, Gilan and Mazandaran, Khorasan, Azarbaijan, Fars and Khuzestan are among the most fertile areas of the country. Most of the gardening activities are also carried out in these areas. The most important agro-products of the country are wheat, barley, vegetables, grain, fruits, cotton, tobacco, dates, rice, olive, corn, tea, hemp, citrus fruit, sugarcane, and sugar beet.
There are fertile pieces of land and abundant water resources in the coastal plains of the Caspian Sea region and the basins of the northwestern part of the country. Citrus fruits and grapes are grown in these areas.
The inhabitants of the Zagross heights and the central region are mostly farmers and stock breeders. They depend on farm and livestock products as their main source of income. Wheat, barley, sugarcane, and vegetables are grown in the plains of Khuzestan and the southern coastal areas.
According to the available statistics, wheat is grown in some 6.3 hectares of the farmlands. Some 36 percent of the wheat is cultivated by water farming and the remaining 64 percent cultivated by dry farming. Error processing SSI file

Iran is among the most important countries of the world in terms of handicrafts. Some 140 types of artifacts are produced locally. Iranian handicrafts are also exported to countries such as Germany, Italy, the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, the Persian Gulf littoral states, Japan, Turkey, the Netherlands, and South Africa.
The Iranian carpets, gelims (hand-woven floor mats) and gabehs (a form of tribal rug) have a global reputation. Iran is ranked first worldwide in terms of the production and exports of carpets and gelims. Its share in the global exports of the said products is 25 percent while India and China are ranked second and third with export levels of 22 and 13 percents respectively.
Khorasan province has the highest number of people engaged in the handicrafts sector. The main categories in the handicrafts sector are the carpet and gelim industries, glass-making, inlaid works, copper and silver artifacts, engraving, silk-woven fabrics, quilt works, needle works, ceramics, porcelain and wood works.Error processing SSI file

Iran is a unique country in terms of its tourist attractions and abundant resources. The most important characteristics of the country are its diverse natural and ecotourism attractions, religious, ethical and cultural diversity, its national and Islamic architectural style, diverse climatic conditions and above all its people's hospitality. On the very basis of such distinct features, the government and people of Iran forged a firm will at the beginning of the new millennium to expand tourism industry nationwide in order to boost the country's general revenues and to create new job opportunities.Error processing SSI file

The available statistical facts suggest that in 1969 some 241,198 tourists visited Iran. In 1975, the figure almost doubled and increased to 588,768 persons. However, after the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the emergence of the Iran-Iraq imposed war, the influx of tourists reached its lowest level. In 1982, only 68,595 tourists visited Iran.
However, in 1989 globetrotters once again showed an interest in visiting Iran. In wake of the new tourism policies, in 1997, Iran managed to attract some 764,092 tourists, a figure close to the booming days of the tourism industry in the pre-Islamic Revolution era. From then on, the number of visitors to the country increased significantly in light of the policies adopted for restructuring Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization. In 2000, some 1,341,762 tourists toured Iran.Error processing SSI file

On average, over 55 percent of foreign tourists visiting Iran are of European origin, about 25 percent are from southeastern Asian countries, over 10 percent are from the Middle Eastern countries and the remaining 10 percent are from other countries. Error processing SSI file

The economic property in Iran is divided into three types of public (governmental), private, and cooperative. The public sector has got more than 50% of the capital and production of the country such as oil, petrochemistry, steel, mines and metals, water and power, air transport, railways, car fabrication, textile, and the greater plants producing alimentary products.
Iran ranks first in the Middle East in terms of coalmines. It ranks first in the world in terms of steel production (over 2 billion tons of iron ore reserves). It ranks second in the world in terms of copper mines and production after Chile, and ranks first in the world in terms of turquoise mines. Interestingly enough, Iran is among the top ten countries of the world in terms of other mineral resources. Some eight percent of the employed people of the country are engaged in the mining sector. Error processing SSI file

Some 87 percent of the country's electrical power is produced by power plants which operate on natural gas, furnace oil, and gas oil. This is due to the fact that fossil fuel is found in abundance in Iran. Due to the water shortage in the country, only 13 percent of the power plants operate on steam.
The recommended voltages for home appliances and industrial machines are 220 V and 380 V respectively. Iran is working on the utilization of wind and atomic energies in order to boost its electrical power system. Iran currently exports electrical power to Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Error processing SSI file

Iran ranks second in the world in terms of its gas reserves (23 trillion cubic meters). Most of these reserves are located in Aghajari (Khuzestan province), Kangan (Bushehr province), the Qeshm Island (Hormuzgan province), and Khangiran-e-Sarakhs (Khorasan province). Over two third of the urban and rural areas have access to gas pipelines. Over 17 percent of the power plants of the country operate on gas. Error processing SSI file

The available facts and figures reveal that in 1997 some $14.2 billion worth of goods were imported. Germany accounted for some 13.1 percent of the imports while Japan, Argentina, Italy, Russia, the UK, France, and Canada accounted for 6.2, 5.9, 5.6, 5, 4.8, 4.8, and 4.3 percents respectively.
Some 27.8 percent of the imports pertained to machinery and mechanical equipment, electrical tools, spare parts, and audio and visual equipment. Error processing SSI file

The available facts and figures suggest that in 2001 Iran exported over $22 billion worth of goods. From the said figure, some $17 billion pertained to crude oil and the remaining $5 billion pertained to non-oil products.
The breakdown of the exported non-oil products for this year is 22.1 percent for hand-woven carpets, 6.86 percent for pistachios, 3.07 percent for liquefied propane, 3.04 percent for pickled hide, 2.74 percent for oil products and 2.45 percent for iron and steel. The remaining percentiles pertained to various other products. Furthermore, some 13.6 percent of the non-oil products were exported to Germany, 9.9 percent to the U.A.E., 9.6 percent to Italy, 6.7 percent to the Republic of Azerbaijan, 5.1 percent to Turkmenistan, 3.6 percent to Japan, 3.6 percent to Uzbekistan, and 3.3 percent to India. Error processing SSI file

In 1996, about 1.9 million tons of goods were transited via Iran. They were carried by 224,000 trucks, some 54 percent of which were owned by Iranian nationals while about 28 percent of these trucks were owned by Turkish nationals. The remaining percent of trucks were owned by other nations. Error processing SSI file

Based on the available statistics, in 1998 over 190,000 square meters of storage area (warehouse) were established throughout the country by the Central Organization for Rural Cooperatives and the Organization for Promotion of Commercial Services. Moreover, in the same year 438 cold storage areas with the capacity to preserve some 1.105 million tons of crops were utilized. Error processing SSI file

In 1997, the Ministry of Commerce purchased some five million tons of wheat from the local farmers. In the same year, the ministry imported over six million tons of wheat and distributed about eight million tons of flour nationwide. In the same year, the county's rice production stood at 480,000 tons while its rice imports amounted to 0.53 million tons. The annual consumption level of vegetable oil in the country is about 700,000 tons, some 6.4 percent of which is produced locally while the remaining 93.6 percent are imported. The annual consumption level of sugar and sugar cubes is about two million tons, about half of which is imported.Error processing SSI file