Inflation Reshapes Household Budgets Across Iran

Households across Iran are being forced to make difficult daily choices about what to buy, what to postpone and what to cut entirely as costs climb and the currency weakens. One woman in Tehran said the funds her family had set aside for a wedding celebration were redirected toward a housing deposit. She now works additional shifts to repay a loan, and she told Radio Farda that she and her husband are rarely home together. "Our home has turned into the place we just sleep," she said. She requested anonymity. She and others describe a pattern in which the household is poorer each morning than the night before.

Several forces are driving the squeeze on household finances. International sanctions, persistent inflation and the rial's decline have weighed on the economy for years. Economic hardship was a significant factor in January's protests, which authorities suppressed in a deadly crackdown. Pressure intensified after the United States and Israel began a military campaign against Iran on February 28 that damaged infrastructure. Trade has been disrupted in both directions: a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports has cut oil exports and imports of goods, while Iranian attacks aimed at controlling the Strait of Hormuz have further hindered shipping. In August the U.S. Treasury launched a new round of sanctions that American officials called "Economic D-Day," aimed at isolating Tehran financially.

Food prices illustrate how quickly household budgets are being reshaped. A field survey by Radio Farda in central Tehran found families altering shopping priorities and dropping once-standard activities. Cooking chicken with barberry now costs nearly double what it did a year ago. A serving of ghormeh sabzi, the herb stew considered Iran's national dish, alongside rice can cost 23 million rials ($8.45), and potato patties known as kookoo sib zamini run about 4 million rials. One woman said her family reserves meat and poultry for the children, who are still growing, while she and her husband rely on legumes and meat substitutes. She said further price increases could eventually force cuts to the children's meals as well.

Cost-of-living data puts the strain in perspective. Factnameh, a fact-checking outlet based in Canada, estimated that a basket of 11 essential food items cost 56 million rials ($20.70) per person in September, or more than 168 million rials ($61.70) for a family of three. The government's 10 million rial ($3.67) food voucher covered less than 18 percent of that per-person cost, compared with about 30 percent in December 2025. Annual inflation reached 89.9 percent in September, while the monthly wage is estimated at around $100.

Central bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati acknowledged on October 23 the "heavy burden" Iranians carry, but said efforts to isolate the country's economy had failed to achieve their main objective. For some, the hardship is already visible on the plate. A retired woman living on a monthly pension of 180 million rials ($66) said she has reduced meals featuring meat and other major protein sources since the Iranian year began in March. She worries about her health, though she considers herself fortunate because she pays no rent.

Those earning above average are not immune. A middle-aged man in western Tehran said his salary and rental income bring household earnings to a billion rials ($367), well above the average monthly household income in Tehran of around 600 million rials ($220), the highest in the country. Even so, he said, "I can live for today, but I have no savings for tomorrow." Travel, dining out and saving have all disappeared from his life. A 28-year-old woman in Tehran earning 400 million rials ($147) a month said she has changed how she socializes. She and her friends once visited cafes weekly but now sometimes order a single dish for every two people to split the cost. Sharing, she said, is about the only way to make an outing affordable.

Looking ahead, the trajectory of prices and the availability of goods will shape what households can afford. The combination of disrupted trade, sanctions and inflation continues to weigh on household purchasing power, and no relief is in sight from the measures described in the source material. Families are already rationing food, postponing celebrations and setting aside savings plans. How long they can sustain those adjustments depends on whether costs stabilize and whether trade flows resume, factors that would directly affect prices on store shelves and the cash families have left at month's end.