According to the annual household income and expenditure data published by Iran’s Statistics Center, inflation rates from 2018 to 2022 have led to higher spending. In 2022, the wealthiest segment of the population spent over 71 million tomans on food, while the poorest decile allocated only 13.85 million tomans.
State-run media outlet Setareh-e Sobh discusses the economic situation and the growing wealth gap among people, stating, ‘Insufficient nutrition and housing shortages result in social and health issues, highlighting the alarming disparity between poverty and affluence in our country.’
The government’s statistics center has released a report indicating a crisis that has put urban families under tremendous pressure. Due to inflation in 2021, people reduced consumption of chicken and red meat, resorting to eggs as an alternative.
The economic crisis involving the regime has significantly impacted people’s lives, with more than 60% of the country’s population now classified as poor.
According to the Statistics Center report cited by Setareh-e Sobh, ‘Urban households spent 6,663,000 tomans, equivalent to 24% of their total expenses, on food and tobacco in 2016. By 2021, this figure had risen to 37,682,000 tomans, constituting 27% of their total household expenses.’
Considering the economic pressures, those living in deprived provinces are affected most, having to allocate a larger portion of their meager incomes for their families’ sustenance.
The Statistics Center’s report reveals that ‘families in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces spent 46.98 million tomans on food, Bushehr 45.9 million tomans, and Markazi 44.26 million tomans, marking the highest expenses among edible items.’
Conversely, the Ardabil, Kerman, and Semnan provinces had the lowest expenses in the food category. The situation is similar in other provinces, except for those close to absolute poverty.
Inflation has hit the lower deciles of society the hardest, impacting their nutrition and food access. According to Setareh-e Sobh’s estimation based on the Statistics Center’s report, ‘Urban households in the first decile, the least expensive and poorest group in society, spent 13.85 million tomans on food in 2022.’
The rise in food inflation disproportionately affects lower-income groups. In 2022, urban households in the 10th decile, the wealthiest group, allocated 19.72% of their expenses to food, while those in the first decile spent a staggering 42.56% on food.
This survey vividly illustrates the wealth gap between the first and tenth deciles. Poverty in the lower deciles has made life unbearable. The poverty line is above 20 million tomans, and the damage to this group is undoubtedly severe.
Setareh-e Sobh has also analyzed the classification of poverty and wealth among occupational groups. These calculations pertain to 2022, but inflation in 2023 has widened the poverty spectrum.
In 2022, high-ranking government officials spent an average of 57.23 million tomans on food items. Households in the specialist (scientific and technical) group averaged 50.33 million tomans, while employees’ households averaged 43.33 million tomans. Households of simple workers averaged 30.88 million tomans, and households of artisans and related workers averaged 36.13 million tomans.
These statistics shed light on the extent of poverty in Iran and the hardships people endure. These difficulties arise from a regime that, instead of alleviating poverty and ensuring the welfare of its people, diverts resources to fund proxy wars, such as the ongoing devastating conflict in the region, which has claimed nearly 3,000 lives for the mullahs’ regime’s divisive and terrorist policies.
Source » irannewsupdate