Highlights

The September 2023 standard reference food basket increased by 100 percent since the start of 2023, tripled compared to a year earlier, reaching SYP 938,000 (USD 81 at the official exchange rate of SYP 11,557). Beyond the slide in the Syrian pound, cuts in fuel subsidies in recent months provided further inflationary pressures on the cost of the basket.
The Minimum Expenditure Basket increased for the fourteenth consecutive month to reach SYP 2,198,000 in September 2023. The cost of living nearly doubled in the first nine months of 2023 and increased fourfold in two years. The likely increased energy demand as winter approaches and the current regional conflict are a stark reminder of the near-term threat to any price moderation.
The local currency was devalued, for the fourth time in 2023, on 1st October 2023 to reach SYP 11,557 to a dollar from SYP 8,542. In the process, the Syrian pound traded at SYP 13,929 to a dollar on the parallel market at the end of October, lost 53 percent of its value in 2023 alone, and an 83 percent loss in three years.