- Articles
- Posted
2.8 Million: The Average Cost of Living for a Syrian Family at the Beginning of Ramadan 2022
At the beginning of Ramadan 2022, the average cost of living for a Syrian family of 5 has exceeded 2.8 million Syrian pounds according to Kassioun index. It is an unprecedented increase within a record period of time that threatens millions of Syrians who are witnessing a catastrophic gap between the costs of living and the minimum wage of Syrian workers, which remains at the threshold of 92,970 Syrian pounds (i.e., less than half of the cost of the minimum amount of food per working individual alone)!
As mentioned previously, starting from issue No. 1036, Kassioun has adopted a certain method in calculating the minimum cost of living of a Syrian family of 5. It consists of calculating the cost of the necessary food basket (according to the daily need per capita for about 2400 calories from various food sources. To that end, Kassioun has relied on calculating the main meal per capita during one day, which was drafted by the Innovation and Self-Reliance Conference of the General Confederation of Trade Unions in 1987, from which the productive citizen receives the calories that guarantee him life, and reproduce his or her workforce again). This is on the consideration that these costs of food represent 60% of the overall minimum cost of living of the family, whereas the remaining 40% represent the other essential needs of the family (housing, transportation, education, clothing, healthcare, household appliances, telecommunications, and others).
Wages Only Constitute 3.2% of the Average Cost of Living of the Family
The average costs of living of the family have witnessed an unprecedented increase in March 2022 by about 833,405 Syrian pounds from the costs that have been recorded in the beginning of this year. They have increased from 2,026,976 Syrian pounds in January to 2,860,381 Syrian pounds in March. That is, they increased by about 41% within only 3 months, while wages have remained the same, as they only represent in the calculations of today 3.2% of the average costs of living in March.
An Increase at All Levels
The minimum cost of necessary food for a family of 5 has increased by 41% from the level that has been recorded in January 2022, as it changed from 760,120 Syrian pounds for one family per month in January, to 1,072,643 Syrian pounds in March, according to the prices of these components in marketplaces in the capital of Damascus. The increases have occurred to all the components in the necessary food basket, especially vegetables, as their prices have increased from 430 Syrian pounds per capita a day to 955 Syrian pounds, which is an increase of more than 122%. The prices of fruits have also increased from 260 SP daily to 767 SP, i.e. an increase of more than 195%. The same applies to meat (chicken and red meat), as the price of 75 grams of meat per capita a day has increased from 1,837 SP in January to 2,288 SP in March, i.e. by about 24%. Also, the price of 112 grams of sweets has increased by 25% within three months, up from 1,344 SP to 1,680 SP. Thus, the prices of rice have increased during the same period, and the price of 25 grams of cheese has increased from 320 SP in January to 420 SP in March, i.e., about 10.5%.
+ 41% for Other Needs
The minimum cost of other necessary needs that constitute 40% of the total costs of living has also increased (such as housing, transportation, education, clothing, healthcare, household appliances, telecommunications, and others) from 506,740 SP in January to 715,095 SP in March, i.e. an increase by 41% also within three months.
