How much saffron is exported from Iran?

Iran exported 214.3 metric tonnes of saffron worth $184.7 million in Iranian calendar year 1403, which ran from March 2024 to March 2025. That is the most recent complete annual figure cited here from Iranian customs data. The answer changes by reporting period: one year earlier, the reported total was 221 tonnes worth more than $207 million.

Those numbers describe recorded exports under the saffron customs code. They do not equal annual production, and they do not capture informal trade or every later re-export from another country. When someone asks how much saffron is exported from Iran, the year, source and measurement all belong in the answer.

Iran’s latest complete saffron export figure

Data published by the Khorasan Razavi Saffron Exporters Union from Iranian customs records gives a net weight of 214,707,000 grams for year 1403—about 214.7 tonnes. A contemporaneous Customs Administration statement reported the rounded figure as 214.3 tonnes with a value of $184.7 million. The small difference is a reminder to quote the source and avoid presenting a rounded total as more exact than it is.

For the previous Iranian year, ending on 19 March 2024, officials reported 221 tonnes valued at more than $207 million, shipped to 55 countries. The United Arab Emirates, China and Spain were among the major destinations. Year-on-year movement in weight and value can differ because grade, pack size, destination mix, exchange conditions and contract prices all affect the value of a kilogram.

Why export totals from different sources may not match

Saffron is identified in international trade under HS code 091020, but databases do not all build their totals in the same way. Iran’s own customs records measure reported exports from Iran. A partner-country or “mirror” dataset adds what importing countries say they received. The two can differ because of timing, reporting thresholds, transit, free zones, classification and incomplete country submissions.

Re-exports add another layer. Iranian saffron may enter a trading or packing country and later leave under that country’s export record. Counting both movements as fresh Iranian exports would double-count the same material. A table headed “top saffron exporters” may therefore describe customs movements, not where the flowers were grown.

Units also deserve a quick check. Grams, kilograms and tonnes are easily confused in translated tables. Values may be shown as dollars or thousands of dollars. A credible answer states the conversion, the calendar period and whether the figure is reported by Iran or reconstructed from its partners.

The historical 137-tonne figure in the original report

The interview on which this article was first based said Iran had exported 137 tonnes of saffron worth more than $200 million in the preceding year. That was a historical result, not a current annual total. It aligns with the scale of Iran’s documented trade in the early 2010s: an Iranian paper submitted to the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs listed 137.253 tonnes and roughly $200.3 million for 2013.

The same interview attributed several production estimates to Hasan Khodadadi, an official responsible for vegetables, ornamentals and medicinal plants at the Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad. His name appears in varying English spellings in translations of the report. He put the cultivated saffron area at about 85,000 hectares, production at about 311 tonnes—20 percent above the previous year—and average yield at 3.7 kilograms per hectare, up from 3.2.

He also described Iran as producing 311 tonnes out of a world total of 331 tonnes, or about 94 percent. These are dated estimates from that interview. They should not be joined to the 2024–2025 export figure as though production and trade came from the same season.

Production is not the same as export

A harvest can be sold domestically, held in inventory, processed, exported later or lost before sale. Conversely, an export year can include saffron carried over from an earlier crop. Dividing one year’s exports by a production estimate from another year produces a ratio with little meaning.

The original report said Razavi Khorasan accounted for 80 percent of cultivated land and national production, then translated South Khorasan’s share as 55 percent. Those shares cannot both describe mutually exclusive portions of the same national total. The article preserves the statement as evidence of the report’s regional emphasis, but does not repeat the impossible combined percentage as fact. Both Khorasan provinces are major production centres; their precise shares need a named year and one consistent statistical table.

Where export value is created

Export weight answers only part of the commercial question. Clean separation, controlled drying, laboratory testing, documented origin, grading, packaging and dependable delivery influence the value retained by growers and exporters.

Khodadadi argued that more value would remain with Iran if processing and packaging were developed under a national brand. He referred to 390 processing and packing units in Razavi Khorasan and 18 in South Khorasan, with combined nominal capacity above 400 tonnes a year. Nominal capacity is not the same as actual throughput, but the figures show that the policy discussion already extended beyond raw production.

Small retail packs may command a higher price per kilogram than bulk shipments, yet they bring their own costs: compliant labels, food-contact packaging, testing, distribution and market-specific registration. Bulk trade can still be commercially sensible when a buyer performs the final packing. The useful measure is net value after those costs, not pack size by itself. Our article on Iranian saffron exports, packaging and UAE demand looks more closely at that relationship.

Market transparency and the commodity exchange

The historical interview was given around the launch of saffron futures trading in Mashhad. Khodadadi said clearer pricing could make it harder for competitors to displace Iranian suppliers and suggested that cash and futures trading might reduce unnecessary brokerage.

An exchange can publish prices and standardise eligible lots, but it cannot by itself guarantee a better farm-gate return. Warehouse rules, grade definitions, delivery costs, contract liquidity and access for smaller growers determine who can use it. Export contracts also reflect currency, sanctions, payment risk, freight and the buyer’s quality requirements—conditions not captured by a single domestic quotation.

Funding and the saffron organisation plan

Khodadadi connected export performance with a broader saffron organisation plan. The report said that, when the plan lacked a dedicated budget, 610 billion rials of working capital had been allocated to Razavi Khorasan and 140 billion rials to South Khorasan. It also mentioned subsidy credits of 2 billion rials for Razavi Khorasan and 1 billion rials for South Khorasan to improve production.

These are historical allocations in nominal rials. Without the programme year, disbursement record and inflation adjustment, they should not be converted into a present-day funding claim. Their continuing relevance is structural: production support, working capital, quality assurance and export development need separate budgets and measurable outcomes.

Why an international saffron standard matters

The interview closed with work toward an international code for saffron through the Codex process. Codex later adopted a standard for dried or dehydrated saffron that covers identity, quality, contaminants, hygiene, weights and measures, and labelling. A shared standard cannot settle every commercial dispute, but it gives buyers and sellers a common reference and makes unsupported quality claims easier to challenge.

For readers comparing annual figures, the short answer is 214.3–214.7 tonnes for Iranian year 1403, depending on the customs presentation used. For anyone assessing the trade itself, the better answer includes the $184.7 million value, the reporting dates, the distinction between production and exports, and the role of processing, standards and re-exports.

Sources reviewed: the Khorasan Razavi Saffron Exporters Union’s customs-data summaries; the Iranian discussion paper submitted to the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs; and Codex Standard CXS 351-2022 for dried or dehydrated saffron.