Syrian Center for Policy Research:
The bulletin provides an independent assessment of consumer prices and the rate of inflation in all Syrian regions, based on a monthly survey of consumer prices carried out by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) since October 2020. The SCPR had developed a methodology for building a price index based on components of consumer basket, weighting, and market selection (See SCPR’s Consumer Price Index in Syria)
This bulletin presents the findings of the monthly consumer price survey and the changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June 2023 (with 2021 as the base year) broken down by region and the major consumption groups. Based on the CPI changes, the bulletin provides an estimate of the cost of living and poverty lines at the local level in all Syrian regions.
The following results are highlighted:
- In May 2023, the general price index exhibited an annual inflation (Y-o-Y) of 81.34 per cent and a monthly inflation (M-o-M) of 5.6 per cent.
- In June 2023, the governorates of Idleb and Aleppo marked the highest monthly inflation rates at 9 per cent and 11.2 per cent, respectively, while the governorate of Deir-Ezzor recorded the lowest inflation rates at 0.3 per cent.
- The Syrian northwestern areas were notably affected by the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar during June 2023. The monthly inflation rate in the SIG areas (rural Aleppo) reached 14.9 per cent in June 2023 compared to May 2023. In the SSG areas, it reached 11.2 per cent.
- In June 2023, the Food and non-alcoholic beverages group contributed significantly to the monthly inflation (M-o-M) with 3.9 per cent, making up 34.6 per cent of the total, followed by the Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel oils group with a contribution of 29.5 per cent, trailed by the Health group at 5.4 per cent.
- The monthly inflation in June 2023 had a significant impact, leading to a decrease in the real wages of public sector workers in GoS areas by 2.9 per cent compared to June 2023. Similarly, the worker wages in AA areas decreased by 1.7 per cent, while wages in SSG and SIG areas decreased by 0.8 per cent during the month.
- In June 2023, the abject poverty line for families, serving as an indicator of food insecurity, rose to SYP 1.29 million per month, marking an increase of SYP 43 thousand from May 2023. The lower poverty line increased by SYP 68 thousand from the previous month to reach 2.04 million, while the upper poverty line saw an SYP 94 thousand increase, reaching 2.8 million.
- In June 2023, the wage gap from the upper poverty line reached 89.7 per cent for university-educated employees in the public sector, 52.8 per cent for private sector workers, and 54.9 per cent for civil society workers. In all three instances.
To read the bulletin in English:
Monthly Bulletin – Issue (6), 2023 (En)
To read the bulletin in Arabic:
Monthly Bulletin – Issue (6), 2023 (Ar)
