🌱 How competitive is Iranian licorice in the global market?

As global demand for medicinal plants and plant-based products continues to grow, licorice represents a valuable opportunity for agricultural diversification and non-oil export development.

In our new study, we examined Iran’s competitive position in the global licorice market using international trade data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) for 2003–2022, applying Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA), and market concentration measures including CR₄ and the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI).

🔍 The findings reveal an important paradox:

Iran has a notable comparative advantage in licorice exports, but this advantage has not yet translated into a strong and sustainable position in the global market.

Three key insights emerged:

🌍 Comparative advantage exists: Iran demonstrates a meaningful specialization in licorice exports, confirming the country's potential to compete in this high-value medicinal plant market.

📊 The global market is highly concentrated: Between 62% and 79% of global licorice exports were concentrated among a small number of major players, particularly Turkmenistan, China, France, and the UAE, making market access and competition challenging.

⚙️ Potential is constrained by structural weaknesses: Iran’s average 7.38% market share remains below its potential, with limited processing infrastructure, inconsistent trade policies, insufficient market diversification, and weak integration into global value chains acting as major constraints.

💡 The central message:

Having a comparative advantage is not enough to secure a sustainable position in international markets.

For Iran, moving from exporting raw or low-value licorice toward value-added products and processed extracts could be critical. Strengthening processing technologies, meeting international certification standards, diversifying export destinations, and providing stable governmental and financial support can help transform Iran’s natural resource advantage into a stronger and more sustainable export position.

🌱 Iranian licorice has the potential, the challenge is turning that potential into lasting global competitiveness.

📌 Reference:

Majidian, M., & Saleh, I. (2026). Trend Analysis and Competitive Positioning of Iranian Licorice in the Global Market: A Structural and Policy-Oriented Examination. Journal of Medicinal Plants and By-Products, 15(4), 440–446. DOI: 10.22034/jmpb.2026.368832.1916