Iraq’s Trade, 2024–2026

Iraq’s external trade is large in value but unusually concentrated in source, route and public-finance effect. Crude oil supplies the overwhelming majority of export receipts and state revenue, while households, projects and firms rely on imported food, machinery, vehicles, medicines and industrial inputs. This normally generates a merchandise surplus, but makes the country sensitive to oil prices, production policy, maritime chokepoints and the functioning of payment and customs systems.

The Statistics and Geographic Information Systems Authority reported 2024 exports of US$105.08 billion: roughly US$95.0 billion of crude oil, US$5.6 billion of petroleum products and US$4.5 billion of other exports. Imports were US$41.89 billion. Recorded turnover was approximately US$146.97 billion and the arithmetic surplus US$63.19 billion. The reports explicitly exclude trade through the Kurdistan Region’s customs points and the Region’s exports, so the values are a federal customs reporting scope, not an all-territory total.

The Central Bank publishes a broader balance-of-payments frame. Its 2024 report recorded free-on-board exports of US$100.99 billion, comparable imports of US$74.30 billion and a US$26.69 billion trade surplus; cost-insurance-freight imports were US$87.41 billion. The difference reflects geography, valuation, timing and balance-of-payments adjustments. A credible comparison must use one system and never subtract imports from one series from exports in another.

A final nationwide 2025 annual trade report in the same form was not public by 27 July 2026. The latest Central Bank report offers a directional reading. In the third quarter of 2025, exports reached US$23.41 billion, up 0.6% from the previous quarter, while imports rose 2.3% to US$17.93 billion. The quarterly surplus fell 4.6% to US$5.48 billion. Crude oil represented 90% of exports, petroleum products 4% and other goods 6%. These are quarter-on-quarter results, not annual rates.

Physical port activity provides a complementary full-year measure. The statistics authority reported that exports handled by Iraqi ports increased 12.1% to 19.855 million tonnes and imports 10.5% to 23.458 million tonnes in 2025. General Company for Ports revenue rose 20.5% to IQD1,100.7 billion, while General Company for Maritime Transport revenue fell 10.9% to IQD213 billion. Tonnes, company revenue and customs value measure different things and cannot be added; together they show stronger cargo movement alongside uneven operator performance.

The dominant structural risk is oil concentration. The Planning Ministry said oil generated about 95% of foreign currency and more than 90% of state revenue, while non-oil exports provided only around 1% of foreign-currency inflows. An oil-price or route shock therefore affects the trade balance, budget spending, reserves, project payments and private import capacity.

Route risk became concrete in 2026. On 8 April, the acting Planning Minister stated that regional war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz had stopped Gulf oil exports and made alternatives urgent. The government accelerated rehabilitation of the northern crude-export system. This is a direct official description of disruption, not an annual trade estimate, and it demonstrates the economic value of redundancy in pipelines, storage, terminals and commercial arrangements.

Conflict can also raise freight, insurance and food prices; sanctions and anti-money-laundering requirements can slow correspondent banking and documentary payments. Reconstruction and population needs meanwhile support demand for power equipment, construction materials, health products, food-processing systems and logistics. Better digital customs, consistent inspection and recognised standards can reduce transaction costs without weakening controls.

Read together, the National Development Plan 2024–2028 and the Ministry of Planning’s implementation summary support a longer-horizon synthesis centred on non-oil production, private-sector capacity, infrastructure and human capital. These four themes are an editorial synthesis of the official documents, not verbatim programme labels. Practical diversification can begin with refining, petrochemicals, fertilisers, processed foods, construction materials, logistics and selected light industry. Iraq maintained a large oil-led surplus in the verified 2024 series; available 2025 indicators showed rising port volumes but a smaller quarterly surplus. Resilience now requires reliable statistics, multiple routes, efficient border crossings and a larger productive base outside crude oil.