Recently released figures on the cost of essential items for lower-income segments in Iran show that the rise in the price of these items — predominantly food products — has indeed put a lot of pressure on vulnerable groups in the country.

During the period from March 2019 to September 2020, Iranians have witnessed prices of goods skyrocket from 55% to more than 100%, according to a study published in October by the Institute for Trade Studies and Research, a think tank under the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade. For instance, pasta, imported rice and legumes have increased in price by more than 100%. Tea, sugar, Iranian rice, eggs and dairy products have seen prices rise between 60% and 91%. Of note, the point-to-point inflation rate for the seventh month of the Iranian year (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) stood at 41.4%, according to a report posted by the Statistics Center of Iran, whereas monthly inflation touched 7% in the same period, experiencing a 3.4 percentage points rise in comparison with the previous month.

To calculate the minimum amount of living expenses for the current Iranian year, the representatives of the government, employers and the workers at the Supreme Labor Council agreed on the figure 4,940,000 tomans ($187) in March. This is calculated annually for a four-member family. Although labor representatives sought, in accordance with the provisions of Article 41 of the Labor Law, to obtain the favorable opinion of employers and government agents to bring workers' wages closer to the cost of living, minimum wages did not increase accordingly to fill the gap in 2020-21. Thus, the gap between wages and the cost of living for workers rose to 2,030,000 tomans ($77) since the minimum wage was set at 2,902,000 tomans ($110) per month. However, a large number of the labor force, including women, is usually forced to accept wages below the minimum amount and work more than eight hours. They are even deprived of the same minimal support and protections as specified in the Labor Law.

Iran's national income last year (at constant prices in 2011) reached 393.9 trillion tomans based on the data available at the Central Bank of Iran's (CBI) website. This number shows a drop of 5.8% compared to the year 2018. This figure is the lowest recorded since 2005, according to the data currently available and provided by the CBI. In other words, in the last 15 years, the national income of Iranians has not changed. In fact, it has even tanked by about 28.9% compared to the beginning of the 2010s.