Iran sees non-oil exports increase 20 percent over last year

Iran earned 20 percent more from non-oil exports during the first five months of the calendar year than it did last year, customs data released Wednesday show.

Iranian government data show non-oil product exports earned Iran $27 billion during the first five months of a calendar year beginning March 21.

Data show the Iranian economy exported petroleum products like butane and liquefied propane predominately to Afghanistan, China, India, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.

Sanctions imposed on the Iranian economy in response to a controversial nuclear program means oil exports are at about half of their 2.2 million barrel per day rate in 2012. Iran is allowed to export some oil under an international sanctions agreement reached in November, though the International Monetary Fund said the oil-dependent economy is still shrinking at a rate of 1.7 percent.

Hamid Farnam, the energy commissioner in the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, told the Oil Ministry's news website Shana last week the government should work to push oil revenue slowly out of the national budget.

An assessment from the World Bank finds the Iranian economy is contracting. Sanctions imposed by Western powers on Iran's energy sector resulted in a 5.8 percent decline in gross domestic product last year.