Iran’s economy is currently facing significant challenges, leading to a fading and disastrous situation. Several factors have contributed to this decline, including mismanagement and corruption.
The surge in inflation and increased cost of imports makes everyday life of Iranians more and more miserable. Despite increased oil exports, the regime’s finances remain in shambles, with a persisting large budget deficit.
Corruption and mismanagement have hindered economic growth and the country’s ability to recover from the regime’s devastating policies.
According to information released by the Iranian Statistics Center for the fall of 2023, nearly 10 percent of individuals employed in the preceding fall have lost their jobs, with little hope of future employment.
The published statistics reveal that 9.1% of those employed completely exited the labor market in the previous fall, joining the ranks of individuals either disinterested in working or disillusioned with job prospects.
In general, the latest fall statistics show that 24.7 million people over the age of 15 were employed, compared to 24 million in the previous year.
These employment figures raise questions about the regime’s claims of positive changes in the labor market, including the creation of almost one million new job opportunities within a year, and the ambiguity surrounding the term ‘labor flow.’
In April 2023, prior to the change in leadership at the Iran Statistics Center, the institution faced accusations of providing unreliable statistics to bolster the government’s economic performance.
Despite pledges by regime president Ebrahim Raisi to create one million jobs within a year, the Statistics Center’s report indicated that only 262,716 jobs were created.
Contrary to claims about employment rates by the head of the 13th government, economic experts cast doubt on the stability of employment figures in the country, citing worsening production stagnation in Iran.
The Iran Statistics Center’s report at the beginning of 2023 highlighted the loss of 740,000 jobs in the previous year, underscoring the country’s economic challenges.
Critics argue that the presented statistics contradict the regime’s narrative of creating one million jobs and housing units annually in Iran, highlighting the incongruity between the statistics and the reality of the country’s economy.
Over the past two years, various published statistics have faced scrutiny for their contradictions with public opinion and media observations.
These include breaking a 40-year record for exports, a 48% increase in foreign trade volume, a reduction in the inflation rate from 59% to 46% in the first year of the 13th government, and subsequent claims of a 20% inflation decrease throughout the year.
Now in the third year of Ebrahim Raisi’s government, the economic promises, including controlling liquidity growth, halving and achieving single-digit inflation, creating 4 million jobs, constructing 4 million housing units, attracting foreign investment, eliminating poverty, repatriating elites, combating rent and economic corruption, revitalizing the JCPOA, controlling the value of the rial, boosting car production, and increasing Internet speed, seem largely unrealized according to available statistics and information.
Over these two years, the dollar exchange rate has surged from 26,000 tomans to over 54,000 tomans, coin prices have risen from 11 million to over 30 million tomans, branded goods and cars have doubled in price, liquidity in the country has skyrocketed from 3,700 to over 61,000 trillion tomans, and housing prices in Tehran have soared from an average of 30 million tomans per square meter to over 70 million tomans.
These pieces of evidence underline a significant disparity between the government’s presented statistics and the actual economic performance, indicating a reliance on misleading propaganda rather than genuine accomplishments to shape public opinion, a pattern observed in previous administrations as well.
