Tunisia's cost of living crisis deepens since Arab Spring

Tunisia's cost-of-living crisis has outlasted the government it helped to topple. Nearly 16 years after the 2010 uprising, citizens still face soaring prices, now described as worse than ever.

On December 17, 2010, street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid after years of police harassment. The act ignited protests against unemployment, corruption, rising living costs, and police brutality. The wave of protests, dubbed the "Arab Spring," eventually ousted long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and four other leaders across the Arab world.

To illustrate how much daily prices have changed, Al Jazeera tracked the cost of common food items and compared them with 2010 prices.

Dinar loses half its value against the dollar

In December 2010, $1 bought 1.47 Tunisian dinars. Today, $1 buys 2.93 dinars, meaning each dinar is worth just 49% of its value 15 years ago. Tunisia imports most of its food and pays in dollars or euros. The weaker dinar makes these purchases more expensive, and consumers feel it at the checkout.

Essential goods prices skyrocket

In 2010, 8 dinars bought 4 kg of tomatoes, half a kilo of chicken, and 1 liter of cooking oil. Today, that amount buys less than half of that basket. Tomato prices rose 113%, chicken 118%, and cooking oil 129%.

Vegetable prices rose even more: carrots up 428%, potatoes up 268%. Beef, the most expensive item, rose 290% to 52.5 dinars per kilo (about $18). Rice, still under tight price controls, was the exception, rising only 10%.

Abdessattar, 55, from El Jem, said that outside subsidized items, the increases are hard to ignore. "You feel that 20, 30, or 40 dinars no longer buy much." Butter, cheese, hygiene products, and school snacks have all risen compared with last year.

Why are prices rising?

Tunisia has subsidized basic food items since 1970 through the General Compensation Fund. The state keeps prices of some staples below market rates and pays producers or importers the difference. However, many items have been removed from this list over the decades. In late 2022, the government agreed to gradually phase out universal food subsidies in favor of targeted cash assistance to secure an IMF loan, but President Kais Saied halted these measures in 2023.

The result is a two-tier basket: subsidized goods hold steady, while unsubsidized goods soar.

High expectations, disappointing results

Hamed el-Matri, an engineer and political activist now living in Qatar, participated in the 2010 uprising. He recalls that the revolt stemmed from socio-economic demands, including jobs, freedom, and dignity. "Expectations were very high then. But when you see the situation today, or over the past 15 years, the outcome is really, really disappointing."

El-Matri described 2011–2021 as a "stumbling democratic transition," and the subsequent period as "a kind of populist authoritarian rule, with aggressive rhetoric but rather vague policies." Over the past five years, Tunisia's economic system has not just weakened but may have collapsed. Investment has nearly halted, and the economy is close to stagnation.

Burden on people's lives

Yassine, 44, a father in Tunis, said preparing children for school has become a source of worry. Subsidized notebooks and cheap school supplies have disappeared from stores, forcing families to buy used books and supplies from each other. Public transport is no longer reliable, pushing people to use private vehicles, which is a major concern. During the recent Eid holiday, most people he knows could not celebrate properly; many had to buy second-hand clothes.

Hanen, 45, a factory worker in Tunis, said prices are rising so fast that "people can no longer afford basic needs." Red meat, once 20 dinars per kilo, now costs 60 dinars, and medicine prices climb daily. Staples like canned tomatoes, sugar, cooking oil, fruits, and vegetables have all surged. "The price increases are extreme. It's abnormal."