Natural gas rents (% of GDP) in Iran
Iran: Natural gas rents (% of GDP) was 8.8% in 2021. ◆ Volatile
Natural gas rents in Iran, 1970–2021
Source: The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2021, natural gas rents in Iran stood at 8.8%. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.7% on the previous year and up 359.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, natural gas rents in Iran peaked at 8.8% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1982.
Iran ranks 6th of 201 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Natural gas rents (% of GDP) in Iran, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0.6% | — |
| 1971 | 0.6% | +7.6% |
| 1972 | 0.5% | -22.5% |
| 1973 | 0.5% | -8.9% |
| 1974 | 0.2% | -51.3% |
| 1975 | 0.6% | +166.3% |
| 1976 | 0.5% | -20.6% |
| 1977 | 0.5% | +3.2% |
| 1978 | 0.5% | +3.3% |
| 1979 | 0.5% | -0.8% |
| 1980 | 0.2% | -50.0% |
| 1981 | 0.2% | -32.3% |
| 1982 | 0.1% | -63.4% |
| 1983 | 0.2% | +202.8% |
| 1984 | 0.2% | +32.1% |
| 1985 | 0.3% | +9.4% |
| 1986 | 0.2% | -17.7% |
| 1987 | 0.3% | +44.6% |
| 1988 | 0.4% | +38.9% |
| 1989 | 0.5% | +10.9% |
| 1990 | 0.5% | +12.1% |
| 1993 | 1.2% | +119.4% |
| 1994 | 1.3% | +9.7% |
| 1995 | 1.2% | -10.9% |
| 1996 | 1.2% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 1.5% | +31.5% |
| 1998 | 1.6% | +2.1% |
| 1999 | 1.7% | +6.3% |
| 2000 | 2.3% | +38.0% |
| 2001 | 2.4% | +6.2% |
| 2002 | 2.3% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 2.1% | -12.7% |
| 2004 | 1.8% | -10.4% |
| 2005 | 2.4% | +33.2% |
| 2006 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -18.7% |
| 2008 | 1.8% | -7.5% |
| 2009 | 2.3% | +23.5% |
| 2010 | 1.9% | -18.4% |
| 2011 | 1.9% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 2.0% | +5.3% |
| 2013 | 2.7% | +34.7% |
| 2014 | 3.0% | +9.4% |
| 2015 | 2.6% | -11.6% |
| 2016 | 1.9% | -27.0% |
| 2017 | 2.3% | +21.8% |
| 2018 | 5.8% | +148.6% |
| 2019 | 6.8% | +17.4% |
| 2020 | 8.5% | +24.5% |
| 2021 | 8.8% | +3.7% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 8.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.0%, 842.7× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Iran's 8.8% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 1.2%, 7.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Natural gas rents (% of GDP) in Iran changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | +202.8% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 1975 | +166.3% | 0.2% | 0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.3% | 0.5% | 1.7% | 8 |
| 2000s | 2.2% | 1.8% | 2.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.1% | 1.9% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.7% | 8.5% | 8.8% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Iran
- 3 Qatar 12.0% compare
- 4 Uzbekistan 11.0% compare
- 5 Papua New Guinea 9.1% compare
- 7 Azerbaijan 8.6% compare
- 8 Algeria 8.0% compare
- 9 Turkmenistan 7.6% compare
More energy & mining data for Iran
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 0.5768 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Fuel imports 1.7% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is natural gas rents in Iran?
- Natural gas rents in Iran was 8.8% in 2021, according to The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest natural gas rents recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 2021.
- What is the lowest natural gas rents recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1982.
- How does Iran rank for natural gas rents?
- Iran ranks 6th out of 201 countries with data for 2021.
- Is natural gas rents rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is up 359.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iran data come from?
- The figures come from The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB), published as part of Natural gas rents (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 50 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Natural gas rents are the difference between the value of natural gas production at regional prices and total costs of production.