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by FlagPictures.orgOfficially the Republic of Iraq and sometimes written as the Islamic Republic of Iraq, Iraq shipped US$98.6 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2025.
That calculated dollar amount results from a 13% increase from $87.3 billion five years earlier in 2021.
Year over year, the total value of Iraqi exports shrank by -15% compared to $116 billion during 2024.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, Iraq uses the Iraqi dinar which depreciated by -11.5% against the US dollar since 2021 remained flat from 2024 to 2025. The weaker local Iraqi currency compared to 2021 made Iraq’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers starting from American currency.
Geographically, Iraq is surrounded by Iran to its east, Kuwait to its southeast, Saudi Arabia to its south, Jordan to its southwest, and Syria to its west.
Given Iraq’s population of 45.5 million people, its total US$98.6 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $2,150 for every resident in the West Asian country. That dollar metric lags the average $2,475 per capita one year earlier in 2024.
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Iraqi global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Iraq.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$97.7 billion (99.1% of total exports)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $234 million (0.2%)
- Fruits, nuts: $104.6 million (0.1%)
- Aluminum: $96.6 million (0.1%)
- Copper: $84 million (0.09%)
- Woodpulp: $73.6 million (0.07%)
- Ships, boats: $48.6 million (0.05%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $37.1 million (0.04%)
- Gems, precious metals: $23.4 million (0.02%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $15.2 million (0.02%)
Iraq’s top 10 exports accounted for 99.8% of the overall value of its global shipments and is highly concentrated in mineral-fuels related products.
Aircraft and spacecraft represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 469.3% from 2024 to 2025.
In second place for improving export sales was animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes via a 236.8% advance.
Iraq’s shipments of copper posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 155.4%.
The leading decliner among Iraq’s top 10 export categories was the gems and precious metals group, thanks to a -95.7% year-over-year drop.
Drilling down to more granular four-digit HTS codes, Iraq’s most valuable exported products were crude oil (88.7% of total Iraqi exports), processed petroleum oils (8.6%), petroleum oil residues (0.8%), petroleum gases (0.7%) and high-temperature distilled coal tar oils (0.3%).
Collectively, those major products at the more detailed level generated 99.1% of overall Iraqi exports sold in 2025.
Products Generating Greatest Trade Surpluses for Iraq
Iraq recorded an estimated US$46.8 billion trade surplus for 2025, expanding by 62.9% from $28.7 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2024.
The following types of Iraqi product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$96.7 billion (Down by -14.5% since 2024)
- Woodpulp: $66.2 million (Up by 149.1%)
- Ships, boats: $47.3 million (Reversing a -$5.6 million deficit)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $13.4 million (Down by -5%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $12.8 million (Down by -7.9%)
- Lead: $4.3 million (Up by 25.2%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $4.2 million (Reversing a -$6.3 million deficit)
- Zinc: $292,000 (Reversing a -$2.5 million deficit)
Iraq has highly positive net exports in the international trade of mineral fuels-related goods. In turn, these cashflows indicate Iraq’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Products Causing Worst Trade Deficits for Iraq
Below are exports from Iraq that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Iraq’s goods trail Iraqi importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$6.7 billion (Down by -25.4% since 2024)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$5 billion (Down by -53.6%)
- Vehicles: -$4.3 billion (Down by -58.1%)
- Cereals: -$2.3 billion (Up by 6.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$2.2 billion (Down by -15.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.8 billion (Down by -12.6%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$1.6 billion (Up by 3.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$1.5 billion (Down by -22.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$1.4 billion (Up by 28.4%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$1.2 billion (Up by 27.3%)
Iraq has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits machinery including computers as well as other electrical machinery and equipment.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Iraq’s competitive disadvantages in the international machinery market, but also represent key opportunities for Iraq to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.
Iraqi Export Companies
Not one Iraqi corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list major companies from Iraq, some of which are active participants in international trade. Selected examples are shown below.
- Iraq National Oil Company (crude oil, natural gas)
- Iraqi Airways Company (domestic/regional airliner)
- Iraqi Oil Tankers Company (maritime transport of petroleum)
- Trade Bank of Iraq (trade deal financing)
In macroeconomic terms, Iraq’s total exported goods represent a projected 14.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($690.9 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 14.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 16.1% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Iraq’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Iraq’s unemployment rate averaged 15.5% for 2025, up from an average 15.3% one year earlier in 2024 according to Trading Economics metrics.
Nicknamed the City of Peace, Baghdad is the capital city for the Republic of Iraq.
See also UAE’s Top 10 Exports, Palestine’s Top 10 Exports, Egypt’s Top 10 Exports and Syria’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on August 26, 2026
EXCHANGE-RATES.org, Iraqi Dinar (IQD) To US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rate History. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 26, 2026
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 26, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Wikipedia, Iraq. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Iraq. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 26, 2026
Zepol’s company summary highlights by country. Accessed on August 26, 2026
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