Countries · Middle East
Iran
International sanctions restrict Iran's access to world financial markets, so official figures on its capital flows are limited.
At a glance
Net inflows of foreign direct investment were $1.65bn in 2025, against an average of $2.15bn a year in 2015–2024. Investors based in Iran put a net $0.10bn into direct investment abroad in the same year, less than Iran received.
The World Bank figures used here include no recent current account, reserves or portfolio data for Iran, and the US Treasury does not report Iranian holdings separately. Iran joined BRICS in 2024.
Direct and equity investment
Annual net flows, $bn. Direct investment means building or buying businesses; portfolio equity means buying listed shares and fund units.
Net flows by year
Direct investment into and out of Iran, and foreign buying of its shares, $bn.
The economy
GDP
Current US dollars, $bn. Dollar figures also move with exchange rates.
Growth and inflation
Real GDP growth and consumer price inflation, per cent.
All figures
Annual figures from the World Bank, as published. Download them for every country on the data page.
| Indicator | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population (m) | 82.62 | 83.81 | 85.03 | 86.12 | 87.05 | 87.72 | 88.46 | 89.52 | 90.61 | 91.57 | 92.42 |
| GDP ($bn) | 409.2 | 478.6 | 510.2 | 411.9 | 348.0 | 280.9 | 407.4 | 422.7 | 457.5 | 475.3 | 362.7 |
| GDP per person ($) | 4,953 | 5,711 | 6,001 | 4,783 | 3,997 | 3,203 | 4,605 | 4,721 | 5,049 | 5,190 | 3,924 |
| Real GDP growth (%) | −1.4 | 8.8 | 3.0 | −3.7 | −2.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 3.7 | −2.8 |
| Inflation (%) | 12.5 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 18.0 | 39.9 | 30.6 | 43.4 | 43.5 | 44.6 | 32.5 | 42.2 |
| Direct investment in ($bn) | 2.05 | 3.37 | 5.02 | 2.37 | 1.51 | 1.34 | 1.43 | 1.50 | 1.42 | 1.45 | 1.65 |
| Direct investment out ($bn) | 0.12 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.10 |
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