Prices and unemployment on the rise in Syria after earthquake: ILO

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Tuesday that about 170,000 people lost their jobs in Syria as a result of the devastating 6 February earthquake which hit Syria and Turkey.

The report measured employment impacts in the five Syrian provinces most affected by the earthquake and found that just over 6 per cent of all employed people in these provinces were made jobless.

The earthquake killed over 10,000 Syrians and levelled over 15,600 buildings.

The damage to areas outside of Syrian regime control was particularly intense and is likely to be longer-lasting due to the isolated and impoverished nature of the areas.

The ILO said that over US$5.6 million was lost per month due to unemployment, leaving some 725,000 people who depend on the now-unemployed breadwinners vulnerable.

In tandem with a loss in income and housing, Syrians have said that the price of basic goods has gone up since the earthquake.

"The prices of food, medicine and all basic necessities have increased. And we can’t forget the increase in rents and hotel rooms for all those who lost their homes," Lubna (a pseudonym), who runs a personal charity program in Damascus, told The New Arab.

The vast majority of Syrians live in poverty, with the average monthly wage being 241,150 Syrian pounds, the equivalent of about US$32.

"Prices rose dramatically and it has become difficult even for individuals who were not affected [by the earthquake] to secure their needs because salaries were originally very low," Lubna said.

Syria is the fifth most food-insecure country in the world, and according to the World Food Programme (WFP), nearly 9.5 million Syrians were severely food insecure.

A March World Bank report said that only 15 per cent of Syrian households reported having enough income to cover basic needs, while fifty per cent reported having to sell their assets to get by.

To cope with the rising prices of food, Syrians have turned to negative coping mechanisms, such as child labour.

At the same time, government subsidies have decreased. For example, in March 2022, the gas and heating oil rations for families were halved while bread rations were reduced by about 15 per cent.

The 2023 Syrian government budget plans to further reduce agricultural and food subsidies.