For more than four decades, inflation in Iran has increased poverty and increased the prices of food, clothing, and other consumer and capital goods. These issues have now become the norm in the Iranian people’s daily lives. And near-zero economic growth has only exacerbated the situation.
Food is the second most expensive household expense, after housing. According to a report from the Iranian regime’s statistics center, the price of food and beverages increased by 63.6 percent in December 2022 when compared to December 2021. In 2022, food expenses accounted for approximately 26.7 percent of total urban household expenditures. Around seven food products that are very important in the household food basket (such as oil and rice) have increased in price by more than 100 percent. The World Bank published a list of the top ten countries experiencing a food security crisis due to inflation, with Iran ranking seventh.
The population living below the poverty line is a topic of discussion among regime experts. They are warning regime officials that the continuation of this situation will only exacerbate the ongoing protests caused by the expansion of a starving nation. According to a recent report from the regime’s Ministry of Labor, the poverty line for Tehran and similar large cities is around 145 million rials ($370) per household. This figure was half of this for cities and villages, averaging 77 million rials ($185).
The population living below the poverty line is a topic of discussion among regime experts. They are warning regime officials that the continuation of this situation will only exacerbate the ongoing protests caused by the expansion of a starving nation.
Many regime experts are criticizing the government’s calculations, claiming that the true poverty line is much higher, at around 180 million rials or even more. The massive disparity between the minimum income of people above the poverty line in Tehran and other cities and marginal areas, of course, when fixed prices of food, clothing, transportation, and health are taken into account, is strange, to say the least.
Discrimination in determining the minimum wage will increase labor migration and the evacuation of small cities and villages in the coming year (Persian Calendar). The current crisis of marginalization and people living in urban slums will only exacerbate the economic and social damage. Meanwhile, many workers are now receiving even lower wages, which has affected the overall poverty line.
The absolute poverty line is for those who are forced to work more than the allowed amount to escape poverty but remain in poverty. Some work 16 hours a day in two or three shifts, but they are still impoverished.
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