TEHRAN, Jul. 24 (MNA) – An Iranian economic official with the industry ministry said that more than 2 million people in Iran are employed in the clothing industry, stressing that the country's textile industry grew by more than 17% last year.

The Director General of the Office of Textiles and Clothing Industries at the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade detailed figures about the country's clothing and textile industry on Monday which shows growth as compared to the past. 

"Based on these figures, currently, at least 100,000 production units have been registered in the garment industry,...At least 280,000 distribution groups are also operating in the field of clothing, and these statistics do not include the stores operating on the virtual space and also unauthorized people," the official said.

According to the official, currently, there are 1000 industrial production units operating in the field of clothing in the country. He also said that between 700,000 and 1 million people are employed in those units and other clothing-related units. 

He further said that an overall of between 2 to 2.5 million people (according to figures that officially registered units have provided) are working in the country's garment industry if the people who are working in the clothing distribution networks are taken into account as well.

In 1401 (March 21, 2022-2022), the economic growth in the textile industry was registered to be 17.1% compared to the year 1400 (March 21, 2021-2022). Moreover, economic growth of 6% was registered in the clothing sector, which was close to the planned 8% target.