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 February 2024 (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 February 2024, the general CPI achieved an annual inflation (Y-o-Y) of 128.6 per cent and monthly inflation (M-o-M) of 2.7 per cent.
• Tartous Governorate recorded the highest monthly inflation rate (M-o-M) in February 2024 at 4.7 per cent, followed by Idleb at 4.1 per cent, while Ar-Raqqa recorded the lowest monthly inflation rate at 0.3 per cent.
• In February 2024, the Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel oils group contributed significantly to the monthly inflation (M-o-M) with 2.7 per cent, making up 35.8 per cent of the total, followed by the group of Food and non-alcoholic beverages with a contribution of 28.9 per cent, trailed by the Transportation group at 20.2 per cent.
• The inflation that occurred in February 2024 led to a decrease in the real wages of workers in the public sector in the GoS areas by 3.2 per cent compared to January 2024. Inflation also led to a decrease in the real wages of employees in the institutions of Autonomous administration by 1.4 per cent, and in the SIG & SSG areas by 0.7 per cent.
• In February 2024, the abject poverty line for families, serving as an indicator of food insecurity, rose to SYP 2.51 million per month, marking an increase of SYP 59 thousand from January 2024. The lower poverty line increased by SYP 134 thousand from the previous month to reach 3.93 million, while the upper poverty line saw an SYP 128 thousand increase, reaching 5.44 million.
• In February 2024, the wage gap from the upper poverty line reached 76.5 per cent for university-educated employees in the public sector, 65 per cent for private sector workers, and 3 per cent for civil society workers. In all three instances.

Categories: Bulletins, February, Monthly Bulletins, Monthly Bulletins 2024, Publication

Tags: Monthly Bulletin, SCPR, Syria