Mehdi Yousefkhani, the head of the Tehran Union of Poultry and Fish Sellers, reported a decrease in demand for fish due to the reduced purchasing power of the people.
Yousefkhani told the regime’s ILNA news agency on Sunday, June 2, “The current trend in the market for various aquatic animals, including fish, is that the prices of both farmed and wild-caught fish are higher than what people can afford.”
He added that currently, throughout all seasons of the year, there is a decline in demand for both wild-caught and farmed fish.
According to this trade official, the price of fish plays a significant role in people’s choices and given that the prices of farmed fish are significantly lower than those of wild-caught fish, the demand for farmed fish is higher.
ILNA news agency reported that the current prices are 6.75 million rials per kilogram for sturgeon, 2.4 million rials per kilogram for farmed salmon, and 2.3 million rials per kilogram for farmed trout.
Additionally, the price for red snapper is 2.5 million rials per kilogram, and various types of fresh shrimp are sold for an average of 4 million rials per kilogram.
This is not the first time that trade officials, government centers, and media outlets have reported a decrease in the purchase of fish and other protein products in Iran.
Previously, the Vice President of the Iranian Canning Syndicate had stated that canned tuna was a staple food for workers and students, but now many people have removed canned tuna from their shopping baskets due to its high price.
Earlier this year, the Statistical Center of Iran, by publishing the year-on-year inflation rate for 2023, announced that various types of meat were leading in price increases with a 50.9% inflation rate.
On Saturday, June 1, the Statistical Center of Iran also announced that among the 53 food items in May, the highest price increase compared to the previous month was for lamb, beef, and veal.
Following the death of Iranian regime president Ebrahim Raisi, media outlets supporting the regime tried to highlight the 5% growth in GDP in 2023 as Raisi’s success.
However, according to experts’ assessments, none of the mentioned GDP growth drivers have had a positive impact on people’s livelihoods and are not sustainable.
