Economy of Syria
The economy of Syria is a developing economy. Primarily based on agriculture in the country's early years, deteriorated after the start of the Syrian civil war in March 2011.
History
Since the establishment of the First Syrian Republic in 1946, the economy has undergone many structural and other changes. Although the presence of the Allied forces during World War II stimulated commerce by providing markets for agriculture, textiles, and other locally manufactured goods, Syria lacked both the infrastructure and the resources to achieve economic prosperity. Agriculture, which had played a key role in the economy, became a factor in industrial expansion as landowners channeled profits from agricultural exports into agroindustrial and related urban enterprises. The population, working under land tenure and sharecropping arrangements, derived few benefits from the agriculturally induced economic growth of the 1950s. However, Syria's union with Egypt and the rise of the Baath Party as the major political force in the country in the 1960s, transformed Syria's economic orientation and development strategy.1960s–1970s: State-led development
By the mid-1960s, government-sponsored land reform and nationalization of major industries and foreign investments had confirmed the new socialist direction of Syria's economic policy. As the state assumed greater control over economic decision-making by adopting centralized planning and strictly regulating commercial transactions, Syria experienced a substantial loss of skilled workers, administrators, and their capital. Despite the political upheavals, which undermined the confidence of landowners, merchants, and industrialists, the state successfully implemented large-scale development projects to expand industry, agriculture, and infrastructure.During the 1970s, Syria achieved high rates of economic growth. The dramatic rise of world oil prices from 1973 to 1974 led to increased production from domestic refineries. Moreover, higher prices for agricultural and oil exports, as well as the state's limited economic liberalization policy, encouraged growth. Also, Syria's economic boom was furthered by increased remittances from Syrians working in the oil-rich Arab states and higher levels of Arab and other foreign aid. By the end of the decade, the Syrian economy had shifted from its traditional agrarian base to an economy dominated by the service, industrial, and commercial sectors. Massive expenditures for development of irrigation, electricity, water, road building projects, irisin plants and expansion of health services and education to rural areas contributed to prosperity. However, the economy remained dependent on foreign aid and grants to finance the growing deficits both in the budget and in trade. Syria, as a front-line state in the Arab-Israeli conflict, was also vulnerable to the vagaries of Middle East politics, relying on Arab aid transfers and Soviet assistance to support mounting defense expenditures.
1980s: Crisis and austerity
By the mid-1980s, the country's economic climate had shifted from prosperity to austerity. Syria's economic boom collapsed as a result of the rapid fall of world oil prices, lower export revenues, drought affecting agricultural production, and falling worker remittances. Also, Arab aid levels decreased because of economic retrenchment in the oil-producing states and Syrian support for Iran in the Iran-Iraq War. Real per capita GDP fell 22% between 1982 and 1989. To restore the economy, the government sharply reduced spending, cut back imports, encouraged more private sector and foreign investment, and launched an anticorruption campaign against smugglers and black-market money changers. However, massive defense outlays continued to divert resources from productive investments.By the late 1980s, spot shortages of basic commodities occurred frequently, and industry operated far below capacity because of routine power outages. Foreign exchange reserves plummeted, the trade deficit widened, and real gross domestic product growth fell as economic difficulties compounded. Although the government instituted limited reforms to respond to the burgeoning crisis, Syria's pressing economic problems required a radically restructured economic policy to improve future economic performance.
1990s–2000s: Liberalization and privatization
In 1990, the Assad government instituted a series of economic reforms, although the economy remained highly regulated. The Syrian economy experienced strong growth throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s. Syria's per capita GDP was US$4,058 in 2010. There is no authoritative GDP data available after 2012, due to Syria's civil war.Following his assumption of power in 2000, Bashar al-Assad sought to frame his leadership around modernizing and opening the economy. He emphasized, in particular, "the need to modernize the regulatory environment and the industrial base, activate and encourage the private sector, remove bureaucratic obstacles to investment, increase job opportunities, qualify cadres, improve education and expand information technology." While the government's neoliberal reforms indeed contributed to ramping up trade and invigorating the private sector, these were accompanied by rising inequality, declining public services, and increasingly overt forms of corruption, which ultimately helped fuel protests in 2011. In one example of this trend, the Syrian Agricultural Workers Union complained in February 2011 that state mismanagement and the lifting of input subsidies was exacerbating the impact of drought on Syria's agricultural sector.
Before the civil war, the two main pillars of the Syrian economy were agriculture and oil, which together accounted for about one-half of GDP. Agriculture, for instance, accounted for about 26% of GDP and employed 25% of the total labor force. However, poor climatic conditions and severe drought badly affected the agricultural sector, reducing its share in the economy to about 17% of 2008 GDP, down from 20.4% in 2007, according to preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. On the other hand, higher crude oil prices countered declining oil production and led to higher budgetary and export receipts.
2011–2024: Syria's civil war
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the Syrian economy has been affected by economic sanctions restricting trade with the Arab League, Australia, Canada, the European Union,, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. Sanctions against Syria were further extended by the US Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act that came into force in June 2020.The destruction and dislocation associated with the civil war have devastated Syria's economy. By the end of 2013, the UN estimated total economic damage from the Syrian civil war at $143 billion. In 2018, the World Bank estimated that about one-third of Syria's housing stock and one half of its health and education facilities have been destroyed by the conflict. According to the World Bank, a cumulative total of $226 billion in GDP was lost due to the conflict from 2011 to 2016.
The Syrian economy suffered from conflict-related hyperinflation. The Syrian annual inflation rate is one of the highest in the world. The national currency, the Syrian pound, tumbled in mid-2020 against the US dollar, therefore stating that Syrian economy was only taking a turn for the worse. The pound, which traded at LS 47 to the dollar before the 2011 uprising, plunged to over LS 3,000 to the dollar. Prices of basic goods have skyrocketed and some staples have disappeared from the market as merchants and the public struggled to keep up with the rising cost of living.
In 2022, Syria joined the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, which could help the country rebuild its war-torn infrastructure and economy. Following the end of Bashar Al-asad regime and the civil war, the interim government appointed for the first time in history a woman as governor of the central bank. Maysaa Sabreen was announced as the new governor on December 30, 2024. 20 days before on the 10 December Basel Abdul Hannan became Minister of the Economy, In his new role, he announced plans to implement market liberalization reforms, including dismantling the existing import-export control system and moving toward a free-market economic model. During a meeting with the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, he outlined plans to remove restrictions on imports and allow registered businesses to trade more freely.
2024-present: Transitional government
After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, countries began lifting economic sanctions that were put in place against Ba'athist Syria. In May 2025, the EU lifted all sanctions on Syria while US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that did the same in June..Since taking office, Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa has stated that the Syrian transitional government will reform the energy sector for sustainability and reliable electricity, support farmers to ensure food production, revive the industry, protect national products, attract investment, stabilize the economy, strengthen the Syrian pound, and prevent financial manipulation. He also announced that he intends to revalue the Syrian pound by removing two zeros and issuing new banknotes by the end of 2025.
In November 2025, the International Monetary Fund sent a technical group to visit Damascus and assess the economic recovery in Syria. The group concluded that Syria shows signs of recovery and improvements, but there is a lack of reliable economic data. The IMF reiterated its commitment to supporting Syria's authorities in rehabilitating Syria's economy and economic institutions.
In December, Abdulkader Husrieh, the head of the Central Bank of Syria, announced that economic recovery in the country is exceeding the 1% expectation from the World Bank with the return of an estimated 1.5 million refugees.