Iranian rugs, as one of the main symbols of Iranian culture and art, have faced a significant decline in global markets in recent years. This decline has been so severe that the exports of this product have decreased from $2 billion in 1994 to $50 million in 2022.
According to Iran’s media reports, Hossein Salah Varzi, the head of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, states that the negative impact of the country’s incorrect currency policies on the exports of various non-oil goods, including Iranian hand-woven rugs, has led to a 98% reduction in the exports of this product in 2022 compared to 1994.
In a report, the news website Ensafnews states, “In the 2000s, rug exports were considered one of the important pillars of the country’s foreign currency earnings. However, after 2012, Iranian rug exports steadily declined and reached their lowest level in 2015, when Iran only exported $290 million worth of rugs. While the average rug exports between 2007 and 2017 were around $416 million, since 2019, the volume of rug exports has consistently been less than $73 million, and in the past year, it reached its lowest figure of $50.7 million.”
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, a significant portion of the employment chain of the 2 million artisans involved in hand-woven rugs throughout the country consists of weavers, many of whom have migrated to the outskirts of cities or other neighboring countries during the recession.
Recently, Fathollah Tousi, a member of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, stated that Iranian rugs no longer lead the market, and as a result, competitors are attracting Iranian carpet weavers to Turkey and other neighboring countries.
In previous years, Germany, the United States, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were among the main customers of Iranian rugs.
