The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the “general sentiment” regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households experienced much higher inflation in areas such as clothing, housing, food, and other sectors compared to the government’s official figures.
According to Donya-e-eqtesad, although the average inflation rate over the past year was 40.7% compared to the previous year, the prices of red meat, chicken, and fish have surged by 86%.
Donya-e-eqtesad further reports that food and beverage inflation was 52% last year, indicating a more severe increase in food costs compared to the general inflation rate in comparison to 2022.
The report continued that people even experienced higher inflation rates in fruit purchases compared to the government’s announced figures, with fruit prices increasing by 48% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The report also mentions a 47% inflation rate in clothing, emphasizing that under such circumstances, people’s perception of inflation compared to the official inflation rate has widened.
In this report, the situation of low-income groups is described as much more fragile and challenging compared to higher income deciles, with the declared weight of food expenses for low-income individuals being 1.5 times that of high-income deciles.
Donya-e-eqtesad also states that rents consume over 70% of “tenants’ monthly living costs,” forcing many tenants to cut back on other expenses, including food, to meet housing rental expenses.
These conditions persist while regime officials rely on statistics extracted by governmental bodies, claiming a reduction in inflation and an improvement in economic conditions in the country.
In this regard, Mohammad Reza Farzin, the Governor of the regime’s Central Bank, announced on March 15, 2024, during a meeting with the country’s bank managers, the Central Bank’s inflation targeting for March 2025 as achieving point-to-point inflation of 20%.
However, Farzin’s statements were met with criticism from experts and analysts, who assessed 2024 as a very difficult year due to the regime’s tension-generating policies outside Iran’s borders and the persistence of economic challenges and obstacles.
Predictions made for 2024 suggest the movement of the dollar towards 700,000 rials and, in the most optimistic scenario, inflation remaining above 40%. Currently the USD exchange rate is around 61,400 rials per dollar.
The minimum cost of living is in Iran estimated at $500, yet workers’ wages stand at merely $136.
