Inflation and unemployment deepen cost-of-living crisis in Syria

The daily cost of living has become an increasing challenge for broad segments of Syria’s population, amid rising housing, food, energy and service costs, coupled with limited employment opportunities and declining purchasing power. These conditions have widened social disparities and pushed some families to rely on child labor or informal work to meet their basic needs.

The case of Abu Walid, a man in his 50s who lost a leg due to complications from diabetes, illustrates some of these pressures. He sells packs of tissues at a traffic light on Damascus’ Mezzeh Highway to pay for medication and rent, while his young daughter sells bread and his son works during the summer holiday to help cover the family’s expenses.

Abu Walid says working long hours under difficult conditions provides only a limited income that barely covers the cost of medicine and food. He also points to the lack of social institutions capable of providing sufficient support to people with disabilities and families most in need.

In another case, a mother of three who lost her husband during the war is struggling to cover housing and living expenses. Amina Adel from Damascus says renting a room in informal settlements on the outskirts of the capital costs around 15,000 new Syrian pounds, while the family needs nearly 40,000 new pounds to cover its expenses. Meanwhile, according to her estimate, a worker earns no more than 15,000 new pounds.

The mother says she is considering sending her eldest son, who is 10, into the labor market to help her shoulder the financial burden, amid the absence of a stable source of income and rising living costs.

Meanwhile, thousands of Syrian employees are still awaiting the payment of their salaries, according to protests and demonstrations monitored by Hawar News Agency in Qamishli, Hasakah, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, Hama and Syria’s coastal region. They are demanding that their employment status be settled and outstanding payments released. Delays in paying for wheat supplied to state institutions are also continuing, adding further financial pressure on employees and farmers amid rising living costs.

Social researcher Suha Abdullah, speaking during a visit to Syria, said she had observed a widening gap between social groups and a decline in the presence of the middle class. She noted that rising living costs and rents, along with a lack of job opportunities, had made conditions increasingly difficult for residents, including Syrians returning to the country.

She added that many young people in areas of Eastern Ghouta dream of buying motorcycles to reduce transportation costs, but prices reaching around $400 put ownership beyond the reach of many of them, while prices of goods and rents vary significantly.

According to an economist and professor at a private university’s Faculty of Economics in Damascus, who requested anonymity, inflation in Syria stood at around 5.27 percent, driven by rising housing, water, electricity, fuel and food costs. He said the problem goes beyond monetary inflation to a broader economic and structural crisis.

The expert noted that continued price increases have widened the gap between wages and the cost of basic necessities, leaving families increasingly unable to cope with rising living costs even after cutting their spending to the bare minimum.

Data from the Syrian Center for Policy and Research illustrate the gap between incomes and living costs. The extreme poverty line for a family reached around 11.3 million Syrian pounds per month in February 2026, compared with an average salary of about 13.1 million pounds for a university-educated public-sector employee at the beginning of their service. Meanwhile, the average salary of a private-sector worker stood at around 32.1 million pounds during the same period.

At the international level, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest assessment of the Syrian economy that inflation, which had slowed to double-digit levels during 2025, rose again in 2026, driven by higher import prices, particularly for fuel and food, as well as increased domestic demand and rising prices for services, utilities and housing.

At the same time, the IMF projected strong economic growth for 2026, but stressed that poverty remains widespread and that the recovery is uneven across regions.

The World Bank said inflation fell to 5.11 percent in 2025, compared with 1.72 percent in 2024, but warned that the Syrian economy remains fragile. It also cautioned that any regional escalation could affect trade, investment, tourism and electricity supplies.

On the social front, the World Food Programme says more than 2.7 million people in Syria are currently facing acute food insecurity, while only around 18 percent of the population enjoys food security. Rising prices, climate shocks, limited job opportunities and inadequate services continue to affect households.

The United Nations Development Programme estimates that nine out of 10 Syrians live below the poverty line and that unemployment has doubled during the years of war. It also said the Syrian economy has lost more than half of its size since 2010, making job creation and the restoration of production and basic services among the key conditions for recovery.

The economist believes that reforming the monetary system and replacing the currency could represent an important step, but their impact would remain limited without political and security stability, the revival of production, job creation, and efforts to attract investment and remittances through official channels.

Taken together, economic and humanitarian indicators show that Syria’s challenge is not limited to containing inflation. It also involves rebuilding productive capacity, improving wages and employment opportunities, regulating markets and restoring services in ways that can curb rising poverty and social inequality while strengthening families’ ability to meet their basic needs.

a.k

ANHA