According to the state-run Etemad newspaper, the “minimum wage” for 2023, which started with a minimum of 50% inflation, only grew by 20% compared to last year.
This trend has led to the real wages of workers being halved from the beginning of the year until now.
Etemad newspaper reported on Sunday, January 14, that the “daily minimum wage” for the working class has reached about 1.77 million rials (approximately $3.35) for this year, which is significantly lower than the purchasing power of a wide range of goods and most food items in Iran.
Based on this, the daily income figure of 1.77 million rials for 2024 is likely to increase by about 20% and will be slightly over 2 million rials (approximately $3.8) per day. However, due to the inflation gap between this year and the next, this new figure will be even further from the value of a basket of minimum food items.
On Saturday, January 13, the regime’s Donya-ye Eqtesad newspaper discussed the increase in the cost of food items (caused by inflation) and its impact on workers’ monthly wages. It stated that a worker who is the head of a four-person household would have to spend about 65% of their income to provide a minimal basket of food items.
Etemad newspaper asked the question, “Why are food items important, and why should the government reconsider the minimum wage for the coming year?” It stated that after the high inflation of food items caused by the elimination of preferential exchange rates, a significant portion of the income of lower-income groups was spent on food expenses. This is why statistical reports have different “inflation importance coefficients” for different income groups.
Meanwhile, on December 26, 2023, the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper reported that “the purchasing power of workers with the minimum wage has decreased by more than 65% since 2016 and has fallen below half.” It also stated that “the real minimum wage for workers this year has reached the lowest level in the past 28 years.”
On January 7, Hossein Goodarzi, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), addressed the regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi in a public session and said, “People will not tolerate over 40% inflation and increasing prices of food and living items, especially the price of meat at 600,000 tomans per kilogram.” He asked him to take action as soon as possible.
On January 9, Iranian media reported an “increase in the poverty index” in 14 provinces compared to the same period last year during the autumn of this year. According to this report, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province had the highest level of poverty, while Tehran province had the lowest level.
