Amid the US and Israel’s war against Iran, millions of Iranians have lost their jobs and been pushed into poverty.
Few sectors have survived. Those newly unemployed include refinery and textile factory workers, truck drivers, flight attendants and journalists.
Before the conflict, Iran’s economy was in a dire state. Per capita national income has fallen from about $8,000 in 2012 to $5,000 in 2024, ravaged by inflation, corruption and sanctions.
The outlook worsens further. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the conflict could push up to 4.1 million more people into poverty.
Physical damage from thousands of airstrikes has led to widespread displacement, according to UNDP. Media outlet Eco-Iran reported that more than 23,000 factories and businesses were damaged.
Iran’s Deputy Labor and Social Security Minister Gholamhossein Mohammadi says this is directly costing 1 million jobs. And Iranian publication Etemad Online estimates that an additional 1 million people have lost their jobs as a result.
The disruption to shipping and, by extension, imports has also disrupted Iran’s already fragile economy, putting “50% of Iran’s jobs at risk and pushing another 5% of its population into poverty,” said Hadi Kaharzadeh of the Quincy Institute, a foreign policy think tank.
Official data shows the number of people applying for unemployment insurance has increased sharply, with 147,000 applications in the past two months, almost three times as many as last year.
Read more about how Iranians have been affected by the war.
