February 17, 2023
The inflation rate jumped almost three percentage points last month, an alarming surge, and is once again above 50 percent a year, meaning that the regime’s anti-inflation efforts have not only failed dismally but have condemned the Iranian economy to great misery.
In the last quarter century, the inflation rate has topped 50 percent in only seven months, including the month that ended January 20.
The Statistical Center of Iran measures inflation in two ways. In the most closely watched measure (the red lines in the accompanying chart), the annual rate compared to same month in the previous year rose 48.1 percent in the month ending November 21, 48.5 percent in the month ending December 21 and then surged to 51.3 percent in the month ending January 20.
The second measure (the black lines) shows the 12-month average rate of inflation. That rose 46.3 percent in the month ending January 20 and that was the eighth straight month that the inflation rate had risen by that measure.
As the chart shows, inflation has been going at a furious pace for most of the last five years. Other countries have had worse inflation rates but rarely have they sustained such high inflation for so long.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund each watch inflation in more than 200 economies, and each lists only six countries with inflation currently worse than in Iran.
