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 September 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 September 2023, the general CPI achieved annual inflation (Y-o-Y) of 153 per cent and monthly inflation (M-o-M) of 6.7 per cent.
- In September 2023, the governorate of Damascus marked the highest monthly inflation rate, at 13.4 per cent. The governorates of Idleb and Aleppo recorded the lowest monthly inflation rate of between 3.8 and 4.2 per cent.
- In September 2023, the Food and non-alcoholic beverages group contributed significantly to the monthly inflation (M-o-M) with 6.7 per cent, making up 48.9 per cent of the total, followed by the Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel oils group with a contribution of 33.9 per cent, trailed by the Education group at 4.9 per cent.
- The monthly inflation in May 2023 had a significant impact, leading to a decrease in the real wages of public sector workers in GoS areas by 5.7 per cent compared to April 2023. Similarly, the worker wages in AA areas decreased by 8 per cent, while wages for the workers in SSG and SIG areas witnessed a slight increase of 0.8 per cent during the month.
- The increase in wages at current prices led to an improvement in the real wages of public sector employees in GoS areas during September by 84 per cent for all workers in the public sector and by 198 per cent for university professors compared to August, while real wages for workers in AA departments decreased by 8 per cent and in SIG and SSG 4.5 per cent for the same period.
- In September 2023, the wage gap from the upper poverty line reached 88.6 per cent for university-educated employees in the public sector, 60.7 per cent for private sector workers, and 58.6 per cent for civil society workers. In all three instances.
To read the bulletin in English:
Monthly Bulletin – Issue (9), 2023 (En)
To read the bulletin in Arabic:
Monthly Bulletin – Issue (9), 2023 (Ar)
