Agriculture occupies an important place in Iran's national economy. Iran is rich in farming resources and the country has more than 52 million hectares of arable land, accounting for more than 30% of its land area, and 18 million hectares have been plowed, of which 8.3 million hectares are irrigable and 9.4 million hectares are dry land. The agricultural population accounts for 43 per cent of the total population, and farmers cultivate 5.1 hectares of land per capita. The degree of agricultural mechanization is relatively low, with 13,000 integrated harvesters and 360,000 tractors in its possession. The government of Iraq attaches great importance to and vigorously develops agriculture, and has achieved 90% self-sufficiency in food production.
The main agricultural areas are concentrated in the Caspian Sea and the plains along the Persian Gulf coast, and most of the areas are dry and lack of water. Since 2003, the Iranian government has been increasing its support for agriculture year by year, focusing on the construction of irrigation and other farmland infrastructure, as well as agricultural research, credit and natural environment protection, in order to improve the farming environment and increase farmers' motivation to achieve the 13.5% growth target of the sector set by the government's Fourth Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan.
Iran is dominated by the oil extraction industry, as well as oil refining, iron and steel, electricity, textiles, automobile manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, food processing, building materials, carpets, household appliances, chemicals, metallurgy, paper, cement and sugar, but the foundation is relatively weak, and most of the raw materials and spare parts for industry depend on imports. As of 2001, there were 13 public and private automobile manufacturers in the country***. Two of them, Iran Khodro and Saipa***, accounted for 94% of local production, with Iran Khodro producing Iran's most popular brand, Paykan, which was replaced by Samand in 2005, and Iran Khodro still holding the largest share of the national market in 2001, with 61%, and Saipa with 33%. Other automobile manufacturers such as Bahman Group, Kerman Motors, Kish Khodro, Raniran, Traktorsazi, Shahab Khodroh, etc. accounted for the remaining 6%. These automakers manufacture many types of vehicles including electric bicycles, buses such as Saipa's Tiba, and various types of vans, minibuses, buses, and other heavy vehicles for both domestic commercial and private use.In 2010, Iran was the twelfth largest producer of automobiles in the world, producing 11.5 million units. The production of automobiles exceeded one million units in 2005, and in March 2009, automobile exports are expected to reach one billion dollars.
Iran has been gradually developing large-scale production plants since 1920. During the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq bombed Iran's petrochemical plants and the Abadan oil field, slowing down oil production, and refineries were rebuilt in 1988 and normalized in 1993. But during the war there were also a number of small factories producing munitions for the army.
The country produces mainly petrochemicals, steel and copper products. Other major products include automobiles, household appliances, telecommunications equipment, cement, industrial machinery (Iran has the largest machinery industry in West Asia), paper, rubber products, agricultural products, processed foods, wool products, and pharmaceuticals. The textile industry, which is supplied locally with cotton and wool, employs 400,000 people, 2,000 of whom are based in Tehran, Isfahan, and along the Caspian Sea coast.
According to the Economist, Iran ranks 38th in the global industrial rankings, with a GDP of $23 billion. From 2008-09, Iran's industrial production growth value jumped from 69th to 28th place.
A 2003 report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) identified obstacles to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran, including lack of supervision, lack of an effective banking system, lack of research and development (R&D), lack of managerial skills, corruption, poor taxation, cultural fears, educational restrictions, failure to internationalize, inadequate labor skills, lack of intellectual property rights, lack of research centers, lack of social learning, and the influence of traditional culture. However, recent studies have also shown that Iran has made rapid progress in various fields, including science and technology, medicine, aerospace, defense, and heavy industry. The country has rapidly become industrialized under U.S. economic sanctions.
It has been affected by economic freedom and government spending, including the depletion of government-established funds. The service sector is estimated to earn more than 25% of GDP, with expenditures coming mainly from routine government expenditures, including military, payroll, and social services.
Urbanization has provided a stimulus to the service sector. Important service sectors are public **** services, including education, commerce, personal services and tourism. Iran's science revenue amounted to $900 million (2005), but has not grown significantly in the past 15 years.
In the early 2000s, Iran adjusted the share of research and development in its GNP to 0.4%, which lags behind the average of 1.4% for developed countries.
The share of research and development in the country's GNP is expected to be 0.87% in 2009, and to reach 2.5% in the next five years.
Transportation and communication GDP is expected to rise to $46 billion in 2013, accounting for 6.8% of the country's GDP. According to the International Labor Organization's recommendation in 1996, Iran employed 3.4 million people in transportation and communication, which increased in 2008 to 20.5% of the working population.
Iran has a history of thousands of years of civilization and a rich heritage of natural geography and ancient civilizations. Before the Islamic Revolution, millions of people traveled to Iran every year. After the Iran-Iraq war, the tourism industry was devastated, and from 1979 to 1994, the number of tourists visiting Iran averaged less than 100,000 per year. From 1991, the government began to develop the tourism industry, the tourism industry gradually recovered, in 2011 the number of tourists reached 3 million, tourism revenue of 2 billion U.S. dollars. There are about 3,000 tourism organizations and travel agencies in the country. Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman, and Mashhad are the main tourist areas of the country, and while the tourism industry declined in the 1980s as a result of the Iran-Iraq war, there have been signs of recovery in recent years; in 2004, about 1,659,000 people traveled to Iran, most of them coming from Asian countries, mainly from Central Asia, with a few tourists coming from the European Union and North America. The most visited tourist destinations were Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz. Germany, France and other European countries have traveled to Iran to conduct archaeology at monuments. Iran ranks 68th in terms of tourism earnings. Mainly because of its natural environment and historical sites, it is rated among the top ten most visited places. About 1.8% of the working population is engaged in the tourism industry, which is expected to grow by 10% in the next five years.
Iran's main exports are oil and gas, metal ores, leather, carpets, fruits, dried fruits and caviar, etc., and its main imports are grain, oil and foodstuffs, medicines, means of transportation, machinery and equipment, livestock, chemicals, beverages, and tobacco, etc. In 2012, Iran's total exports and imports amounted to about 178.7 billion U.S. dollars, with exports of 111.7 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decline of 21%, and imports of 67 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decline of 7%. In 2012, total exports and imports amounted to approximately US$178.7 billion, of which exports amounted to US$111.7 billion, down 21% year-on-year, and imports amounted to US$67 billion, down 7% year-on-year. Due to the impact of sanctions, Iran's crude oil exports have declined significantly since the end of 2011.