Iran
Everything Palanor holds about Iran, in one place: 157 public signals, what its economy runs on, how often America’s largest companies name it, the news that names it, and Country Posture. Every figure is computed from stored readings and carries its source and date.
AsiaMiddle East & North AfricaBRICSMiddle East & Africa
The latest read
- GDP in current U.S. dollars: $362.7 billion (2025); 77th percentile since 1960; lowest since 2020; 1y −23.7%.
- Real GDP growth: -2.83% (2025); 15th percentile since 1961; lowest since 2018; 1y −6.49 pts.
- Consumer price inflation: 42.2% (2025); 93rd percentile since 1960; 1y +9.71 pts.
- Unemployment: 8.3% (2025); 7th percentile since 1991; highest since 2022; 1y +0.15 pts.
- Household consumption, share of GDP: 53.7% of GDP (2025); 88th percentile since 1990; highest since 1998; 1y +8.20 pts.
- Net exports, share of GDP: -8.73% of GDP (2025); 10th percentile since 1990; lowest since 1992; 1y −3.77 pts.
Country Posture
What Iran’s economy is doing
Momentum
2025Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.590 below 0.60; AUC 0.590 below the single-input baseline (0.624); 2010–2022: AUC 0.595 below 0.60; AUC 0.595 below the single-input baseline (0.641).
Inputs
| Real GDP growth | -2.8 |
| Growth against its three-year average | -7.3 |
| Change in unemployment | 0.2 |
| Change in the employment rate | -0.3 |
| Export volume growth | — |
| OECD leading indicator | — |
Resilience
2025Withheld: 1 of 5 core inputs reported for 2025.
Inputs
| Interest as a share of revenue | — |
| Budget balance | — |
| Reserves, months of imports | — |
| Current account | — |
| Governance (WGI mean) | -1.34 |
| External debt (2024) | 2.2 |
Pressure
2023Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.657 below the single-input baseline (0.672).
Inputs
| Inflation | 44.6 |
| Change in inflation | 1.1 |
| Currency move against the dollar | 0.0% |
| Conflict deaths per million | 0.5 |
| Political stability | -1.28 |
| Private credit, three-year change | — |
| Bond spread over U.S. Treasuries | — |
Posture describes what an economy is doing; it is not a rating and never ranks countries. Each input is read against the country’s own history and against every other economy that year. An axis shows a score only after passing a back-test fixed before any result was computed. Method and back-test.
Country Schemas
Where Iran is in its cycles
Where Iran sits in eight long cycles, each read from published statistics against a method fixed before any reading was computed. A stage describes; it is not a rating, and no stage is better or worse than another.
- Development stage
Drive to maturity96% · 2025
Pre-take-offTake-offDrive to maturityHigh mass consumption20002025
- Demographic stage
Low stationary96% · 2025
High stationaryEarly expandingLate expandingLow stationaryDeclining20002025
- Debt cycle stage
Withheld.
Early cycleLeveragingLate cycleDeleveraging20002025
Withheld: too little of its evidence is published and fresh.
- External balance stage
Withheld.
Immature debtorMature debtorDebt repayerImmature creditorMature creditorCredit disinvestor20002025
Withheld: too little of its evidence is published and fresh.
- Export structure stage
Commodity-reliant72% · 2024
Commodity-reliantDiversifyingManufacturing exporterComplex exporter20002025
- Structural pressure
Acute83% · 2025
LowBuildingHighAcute20002025
- Middle-class stage
Middle-class majority67% · 2025
Pre-middle-classEmerging middle classMiddle-class majorityAffluent20002025
- Electoral cycle
Mid-term99% · 2026-10
Post-electionMid-termPre-election2021-072026-10
Passport reach
Where a Iran passport opens doors
The share of world GDP, outside Iran itself, in the economies whose published rules let a holder of this passport in, as of October 2026. Palanor records the rules of destinations holding 88% of world GDP, from each government’s own list, and weights them by World Bank GDP for 2025. Rank is among 199 passports.
Work
0.0%rank 114 of 199
the right to work (free movement in full; treaty and working-holiday routes at half); 0 destinations in full.
Recorded changes
- 2025-06-09United States · visit: Visa required → Not admitted source
Reach is shown here and not weighted into Country Strength: it rewards membership of a free-movement area or a treaty more than the strength of an economy. Entry is always at the border officer’s discretion, and conditions (length of stay, fees, age limits) vary. Method, sources and the full ranking: Passports and citizenship.
Palanor calculation from each destination government's published rules; GDP weights from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0), one year for the whole line, so it moves only when a list changes.
GDP by expenditure
What Iran’s economy runs on
In 2025, household spending was 53.7% of GDP, government consumption 13.3%, investment 41.8% and net exports -8.7% (exports 25.8%, imports 34.5%).
World Bank national accounts. The parts can miss 100 by a few points (the statistical discrepancy).
Same World Bank definition for every country, so the shares compare directly: What each economy runs on.
IMF World Economic Outlook
The IMF’s outlook for Iran
The latest year before the October 2026 edition (often still an IMF estimate) and the IMF’s own projections. These are the IMF’s published forecasts, shown as published; Palanor does not project them further. Since the previous edition the IMF cut its growth forecast for this year by 1.5 percentage points (Palanor calculation).
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 IMF f’cast | 2027 IMF f’cast | 2031 IMF f’cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real GDP growth% | -0.9 | -7.6 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| Inflation, average consumer prices% | 50.6 | 78.6 | 42.0 | 25.0 |
| Unemployment rate% of labor force | 7.5 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| GDP, current US dollarsUS$ bn | 371.1 | 312.0 | 317.4 | 362.9 |
| GDP at purchasing-power parityintl $ bn | 1,856 | 1,773 | 1,894 | 2,197 |
| GDP per person, US dollarsUS$ | 4,263 | 3,548 | 3,574 | 3,925 |
| Current account balance% of GDP | 3.3 | -1.2 | 1.2 | 2.7 |
| Government gross debt% of GDP | 35.6 | 39.1 | 40.2 | 43.4 |
| Government net debt% of GDP | 31.9 | 36.4 | 38.0 | 41.9 |
| Government overall balance% of GDP | -5.3 | -7.1 | -5.4 | -3.4 |
| Government primary balance% of GDP | -3.3 | -5.2 | -3.2 | -1.6 |
| Government net interest paid% of GDP · Palanor calc. | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026. Provided by the IMF “as is” and free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor. Net interest paid is a Palanor calculation: the IMF's primary balance minus its overall balance.
Charts
The headline series
Discourse
How often S&P 500 companies name Iran
7.8% list it in the risk factors of their latest 10-K. Names only, counted by fixed rules set before any document was read; a mention says the country came up, not why.
Conflict
Organized violence
News
In the news
- Europe: France quells riots as Germany courts investors
Curfews quell France's worst riots in years as Berlin pitches investment and summons Iran's envoy
Palanor Wire2026-10-20negative · -riots
- Trump weighs strike on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site
Trump indicated the US may strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site while ruling out ground troops or nuclear weapons.
Palanor Wire2026-10-17negative · -strike
- IEA warns diesel shortages to last into 2027
The International Energy Agency warned diesel shortages will persist into 2027 due to supply disruption from Iran war.
Palanor Wire2026-10-14negative · -warns -shortages
- Iran escalates Hormuz attacks driving oil prices higher
Iran has targeted 24 vessels in two weeks in the Strait of Hormuz, pushing Brent crude to $106.37.
Palanor Wire2026-10-14negative · -attacks
- Europe: UK accuses Iran of RAF base plot
Security threats, fiscal pressures, and diplomatic engagement dominate the continental agenda
Palanor Wire2026-10-13neutral
- UK PM says Iran likely plotted attack on RAF Fairford base
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Iran's Revolutionary Guard was "almost certainly" behind a suspected plot against a U.S. bomber base in Britain.
Palanor Wire2026-10-12negative · -attack
- Iran’s Oil Reserves Run Dry as U.S. Naval Blockade Tightens
OilPrice.com2026-10-22neutral
- Oil prices jump on Middle East worries as U.S., Israel reportedly weigh fresh Iran strikes
CNBC · Bluesky2026-10-22negative · -prices jump -strikes
- Iran's IRGC Navy says seven vessels hit, warns US of wider response reut.rs/48cyeIY
Reuters · Bluesky2026-10-22negative · -warns
- U.S. pulls diplomats from Saudi Arabia as it reportedly readies Iran strikes after midterms
CNBC · Bluesky2026-10-22negative · -strikes
- Breaking News: The U.S. and Israel have plans for new strikes on Iran after the midterms, according to officials briefed on the discussions.
The New York Times · Bluesky2026-10-21negative · -strikes
- President Trump’s approval rating hit a new low just weeks before the midterm elections, driven by broad disapproval of his handling of the economy, the war in Iran and high gas prices, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University. nyti.ms/487eKWa
The New York Times · Bluesky2026-10-21negative · -war
- Israeli military conducts massive "power projection" operation near Iran's border
Axios Business2026-10-21neutral
- US imposes sanctions on Greek, Panama law firm for helping Iran shipping reut.rs/4zKALpC
Reuters · Bluesky2026-10-21negative · -sanctions
Headlines that name Iran, matched by name with fixed rules (a wrong match is worse than a missing one). Tone is read from each headline’s own words; no model reads or summarizes an article, and other publishers’ stories link out.
Company graph
Companies headquartered in Iran
Palanor’s company graph holds 3 entities headquartered here (GLEIF headquarters address, else legal address).
Signals
Every series about Iran
Grouped by theme, the most-read first. All 157 in the Library.
Growth and output10 of 34
- Population, Historical (Maddison): Iranrecord high since 1; 1y +0.7%85,108,180 people2022
- GDP per Person, Historical (Maddison): Iranrecord high since 1; 1y +2.3%18,4732022
- GDP, Historical (Maddison): Iranrecord high since 1; 1y +3.1%1,572.22022
- Iran · Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added · % of GDP48th percentile since 1960; lowest since 2018; 1y −0.206 pts10.6% of GDP2025
- Iran · GDP · USD bn (current)77th percentile since 1960; lowest since 2020; 1y −23.7%$362.7bn2025
- Iran · Industry (incl. Construction) Value Added · % of GDP55th percentile since 1960; highest since 2022; 1y +3.57 pts39.6% of GDP2025
- Iran · Services Value Added · % of GDP31st percentile since 1960; lowest since 2022; 1y −2.69 pts47.1% of GDP2025
- Iran · Manufacturing Value Added · % of GDP93rd percentile since 1960; lowest since 2019; 1y −1.03 pts20.6% of GDP2024
- Iran · Real GDP Growth · % y/y15th percentile since 1961; lowest since 2018; 1y −6.49 pts-2.83%2025
- Iran · GDP per Capita · PPP USD96th percentile since 1990; 1y −1.0%19,699 usd2025
Prices1 of 3
- Iran · Inflation · CPI % y/y93rd percentile since 1960; 1y +9.71 pts42.2%2025
Jobs and people at work3 of 4
- Iran · Female Labor Force Participation · %49th percentile since 1990; lowest since 2022; 1y −0.13 pts14%2025
- Iran · Male Labor Force Participation · %7th percentile since 1990; lowest since 2022; 1y −0.45 pts67.2%2025
- Iran · Unemployment Rate · %7th percentile since 1991; highest since 2022; 1y +0.15 pts8.3%2025
Government and debt5
- Iran · Budget Balance · % GDPrecord low since 1990; 1y −2.62-5.3 pct_gdp2025
- Iran · Government Spending · % GDP43rd percentile since 1990; 1y −8.7%14.6 pct_gdp2025
- Iran · Government Debt · % GDP78th percentile since 1996; highest since 2021; 1y +13.9%35.6 pct_gdp2025
- Iran · Net Interest · % GDPrecord high since 2001; 1y +18.1%2.01 pct_gdp2025
- Iran · Primary Balance · % GDP18th percentile since 2001; lowest since 2020; 1y −2.31-3.29 pct_gdp2025
Energy and resources10 of 16
- Crude Oil Production · Iran30th percentile since Jan 1973; 1y −19.0%3,1502026-06-01
- Iran · Bioenergy Share of Electricity Generation71st percentile since 2000; 1y unchanged0.01% of generation2025
- Iran · Carbon Intensity of Electricity71st percentile since 2000; highest since 2021; 1y +2.0%656.1 gCO2e/kWh2025
- Iran · Coal Share of Electricity Generation40th percentile since 2000; 1y +0.01 pts0.19% of generation2025
- Iran · Electricity Generationrecord high since 2000; 1y +0.7%398.7 TWh2025
- Iran · Gas Share of Electricity Generation63rd percentile since 2000; 1y +1.04 pts73.3% of generation2025
- Iran · Hydro Share of Electricity Generationrecord low since 2000; 1y −1.77 pts3% of generation2025
- Iran · Other Fossil Fuels Share of Electricity Generation48th percentile since 2000; highest since 2014; 1y +0.85 pts21.3% of generation2025
- Iran · Solar Share of Electricity Generationrecord high since 2000; 1y +0.3 pts0.55% of generation2025
- Iran · Wind and Solar Share of Electricity Generationrecord high since 2000; 1y +0.31 pts0.85% of generation2025
Conflict and geopolitics6 of 12
- Iran · Organized-Violence Deaths (UCDP, annual)record high since 1989; 1y +468.6%1,268 deaths2025
- Iran · State-Based Conflict Deaths (UCDP, annual)record high since 1989; 1y +875.8%1,249 deaths2025
- Iran · Governance · WGI six-dimension meanrecord low since 1996; 1y −0.076-1.34 index2025
- Iran · Political Stability · WGIrecord low since 1996; 1y −0.25-1.69 index2025
- Iran · Regulatory Quality · WGI13th percentile since 1996; lowest since 2000; 1y −0.025-1.53 index2025
- Iran · Rule of Law · WGI6th percentile since 1996; lowest since 2014; 1y −0.014-1.22 index2025
Migration3 of 5
- International Migrant Stock: Iran (UN)81st percentile since 1990; highest since 19903,840,654 people2024
- International Migrants as a Share of Population: Iran (UN)69th percentile since 1990; highest since 19954.19% of population2024
- Change in Migrant Share of Population Since 2000: Iran (UN)0.472024
AI stance and technology1 of 3
- AI User Share: Iran (Microsoft AI Diffusion)1y +3.20 pts12.8% of people aged 15-642026-06-30
Climate and the physical world8 of 10
- Iran CO₂ Emissions (Global Carbon Budget)record high since 1906; 1y +0.4%792.6 Mt CO₂2024
- Iran Cumulative CO₂ Emissions (Global Carbon Budget)record high since 1906; 1y +3.8%21.8 Gt CO₂2024
- Iran · Arable Land · % of land66th percentile since 1961; 1y unchanged9.68% of land area2024
- Iran · Renewable Freshwater · m³ per personrecord low since 1961; 1y −1.2%1,4352022
- Iran · Forest Area · % of landrecord high since 1990; 1y unchanged6.63%2024
- Iran · PM2.5 Exposure · µg/m³record low since 1990; 1y −5.2%32.4 µg/m³2020
- Iran · Plastic Emitted to the Ocean by Rivers · tonnes per year (2015)918.3 t/yr2015
- Iran · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)0.09% of world2015
Health and living standards10 of 14
- Births: Iran34th percentile since 1950; lowest since 2004; 1y −1.6%1,173,4632023
- Deaths: Iran44th percentile since 1950; lowest since 2019; 1y −3.4%423,3672023
- Fertility Rate: Iranrecord low since 1950; 1y −0.5%1.72023
- Median Age: Iranrecord high since 1950; 1y +1.6%32.9 years2023
- Population Aged 65 and Over: Iranrecord high since 1950; 1y +0.287 pts7.92% of population2023
- Population: Iranrecord high since 1950; 1y +1.2%90,608,707 people2023
- Iran · Life Expectancy at Birth · yearsrecord high since 1960; 1y +0.3%77.9 years2024
- Iran · Human Development Index · UNDPrecord high since 1990; 1y +0.8%0.8 index2023
- Iran · Access to Electricity · % of populationrecord high since 2000; 1y unchanged100%2024
- Iran · Basic Drinking Water Access · % of populationrecord high since 2000; 1y +0.11 pts97.9%2024
Sentiment and attention1
- Iran · Search Attention26th percentile since Oct 2025; lowest since Feb 8, 202612 index2026-09-27
Peers
Elsewhere in Asia
Alphabetical. Palanor does not rank countries.
AfghanistanArmeniaAzerbaijanBahrainBangladeshBhutanBruneiCambodiaChinaCyprusGeorgiaHong KongIndiaIndonesiaIraqIsraelJapanJordanKazakhstanKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLebanonMacaoMalaysiaMaldivesMongoliaMyanmarNepalNorth KoreaOmanPakistanPalestinePhilippinesQatarSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth KoreaSri LankaSyriaTaiwanTajikistanThailandTimor-LesteTürkiyeTurkmenistanUnited Arab EmiratesUzbekistanVietnamYemen