Iran’s 50-Year Economic Lag is Stark in Global Terms
Half a century ago, Iran's economy was bigger than South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Recently, Iran has not only fallen behind these old rivals, but also lost its global economic significance.
Iran Open Data’s research shows that seven years before the 1979 revolution, Iran’s economy was twice that of South Korea. But, 44 years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) has exceeded three and a half times Iran’s GDP.
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Iran’s GDP between 1971 and 2022 grew 190%. During the same period, South Korea’s economy has grown nearly 25 times (2,370%), Turkey’s economy nearly 10 times (872%), and Saudi Arabia’s economy has grown more than 5 times (411%)
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The last half-century of World Bank data shows that Iran was the 17th-largest economy in the world while Saudi Arabia and Turkey were ranked 18th and 21st, and South Korea was ranked 29th.
52 years later, these four countries’ rankings have completely changed. Now, South Korea ranks 11th, Turkey ranks 16th, Saudi Arabia ranks 20th. Iran ranks 27th in the ranking of major economies.
