TEHRAN- Iran’s gold jewelry demand climbed to a four-year high in the first quarter of 2017, the World Gold Council said in a report on Thursday.

As reported, an improving economy helped Iran’s jewelry demand climb 27 percent from a year earlier to 12.9 metric tons in the first three months this year, according to Bloomberg.

Iran’s gold bar and coin demand was 3.7 tons, the most for the Middle East, compared with sales of 0.3 tons.