Iraq Future: Iraq's trade soars to $65 billion in H1 2024, with China leading imports

Shafaq News/ Iraq's trade volume with several key international partners reached $65 billion in the first half of 2024, marking a 10% increase from the same period in 2023, according to a report from the Iraq Future Foundation for Economic Studies and Consultations on Friday.

The countries involved in this trade include China, India, Turkiye, South Korea, the US, Germany, Jordan, Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

The foundation’s report highlighted, “Iraq exported goods valued at $45 billion to these countries during the first six months of 2024, representing an 11.6% rise year-on-year,” affirming that “China was the top importer of Iraqi goods, followed by India, South Korea, and the US, with crude oil being the primary export commodity.”

In contrast, “Iraq's imports from these countries totaled $19.6 billion, marking an 8.1% increase compared to 2023, with China being the largest exporter to Iraq, followed by Turkiye and India," it revealed.

“The trade balance for Iraq with these countries showed a surplus of $26 billion, up 14.4% from 2023.”

Moreover, the report noted, "The UAE and Iran have yet to disclose their trade volumes with Iraq for the first half of 2024, though in 2023, the UAE exported goods worth $22 billion to Iraq, and Iran’s exports, including electricity and gas, were valued at $10 billion."

Iraq Future data also indicated, “Iraq's largest trade imbalance was with Turkiye, amounting to $5.2 billion—up 15.3% from the same period in 2023.”

Looking ahead, the report forecasted that “Iraq's total trade with these countries could reach $130 billion by the end of 2024, with the inclusion of trade with the UAE and Iran potentially pushing the total to nearly $160 billion.”