The figures by Iran’s Chamber of Commerce indicate a 57% jump in the country's imports in the month of May this year compared to the same period last year.

According to the latest report by the chamber, Iran imported $4.9 billion worth of goods last month with China, the UAE, Turkey, Germany and Russia as the largest exporters to the country.

Last month, the non-oil export was worth $3.8 billion, which shows a growth of 6.1%.

Therefore, in the month of May, the non-oil trade balance of Iran was estimated to be negative 1.1 billion dollars.

A large part of what the Islamic Republic call "non-oil" exports are actually crude oil products.

Customs data show that in the first two months of the current Iranian year-- which began on March 21 -- five main exported items of the country were propane, liquefied natural gas, butane, methanol and bitumen.

Among the imported goods, corn, smart phones, soybeans, car parts, and rice accounted for 15% of the country's total imports.

Last year, the country's non-oil trade balance was negative. It means that the exports were 53 billion dollars while the imports were nearly 60 billion dollars.

For several years in a row, the country's imports exceeded the non-oil exports.