Soaring Food Prices Push Iranians to the Brink

Tehran, Iran – On Fadaeiyan-e Islam Street in southern Tehran, a woman in her 50s hesitated before a sack of rice, glanced at the price, then sighed and walked away. She told reporters: “Inflation has eroded my family’s income for decades, but this year it has nearly wiped out our entire meal. The price of everything has doubled.”

This is now a familiar scene across Iran – a nation grappling with a maritime blockade, two successive wars, and a severely depreciated currency. According to the latest data from the Iran Statistical Center, food inflation in the month of Tir (June 21 to July 20, Iranian calendar) surged 128% year-on-year.

Grocery shopping has become an ordeal for many, especially as inflation for 8 out of 10 major food groups has surpassed the 100% mark.

Sheila, a mother of three who is about to retire from the Ministry of Education, said: “A year ago, I used a month’s salary to buy monthly essentials. Today, even though that salary has increased over the year, it’s not enough to put food on the table. Food prices are many times higher, and I don’t know what to cook anymore. Every time I leave the market, I carry home less than before.”

A Bitter Tragedy

On a street that once housed the middle class – long considered the backbone of Iran’s economy – Maziar, 45, a private company employee, left the supermarket with a few plastic bags. He said: “Don’t look at the number and size of the bags. We’ve given up buying red meat, quality Iranian rice, and high-grade cooking oil, which were once staples. The moment I get my salary, I have to go buy essentials right away, for fear that prices will rise again tomorrow.” He smiled wryly: “It sounds like a joke, but it’s a bitter tragedy.”

Not only in southern Tehran – where the number of low-income households is growing – but also at Tajrish Square in the north of the capital, grocery shop owners are struggling to keep up with volatile exchange rates and dizzying price swings.

Mahmoud, 63, a grocery store owner, said: “Prices change every day. When I open the shop in the morning, I see wholesale prices have risen compared to a few days ago. Customers, mostly wealthy people, now only come to ask for prices, whereas before they bought without thinking twice. Some even ask to buy on credit. How can I sell on credit when I don’t know tomorrow’s price? I’ve been in this trade for over 40 years and have never seen anything like this. Even during the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988), there was a minimum daily turnover at the market. Now, the market is in clinical death.”

War Pressures

Millions of Iranians are struggling to make ends meet, yet the economy has not collapsed despite five months of war with the United States and Israel. The country, with a population of more than 92 million, has built a relatively diverse domestic economy, thanks to decades of self-sufficiency policies to cope with Western economic sanctions.

However, data from the Iran Statistical Center shows inflation has hit almost all goods. Fats and oils top the list with point-to-point inflation of 261.5%, and Iranians rely heavily on oil for cooking. Next come dairy products (milk, cheese) at 147.1%, followed by red meat, poultry, and their derivatives at 145.2%. Even bread – the staple food of the poor – has risen 116.7%.

The impact of war and economic hardship is spreading to all segments of society, including private-sector workers. Maryam, 34, an architect, said: “Two years ago, I went to the market and filled my cart without thinking. Today, I count every rial. My husband and I both work at large private companies, but we can no longer live as before. The poverty line in Tehran has reached 900 million rials (over $654). We may soon fall below this frightening threshold. Two years ago, we were a high-income family, but now we’ve become ‘the poor rich’.”