Iranian Families Cut Meat and Savings as Inflation Nears 90 Percent

A retired woman in Iran on a monthly pension of 180 million rials, about $66, has cut meals containing meat and other protein sources since the Iranian year began in March. She worries about her health, though she pays no rent. Her choices reflect a wider shift in household spending across the country.

Prices have climbed through a sequence of shocks. Sanctions, inflation and the falling rial had already weakened the economy before January protests driven by hardship were put down in a deadly crackdown. The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28 that damaged infrastructure. Trade slowed in both directions after a U.S. naval blockade cut oil exports and imports, while Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz further hindered shipping. In August, the U.S. Treasury opened a new sanctions campaign that U.S. officials called "Economic D-Day."

Annual inflation reached 89.9 percent in September. A monthly wage is estimated at about $100. The average monthly household income in Tehran sits near 600 million rials, about $220, the highest in the country.

Cooking at home costs more too. Preparing chicken and barberry runs nearly twice what it did a year ago. Ghormeh sabzi served with rice can run 23 million rials, or $8.45, and potato patties called kookoo sib zamina cost about 4 million rials. Factnameh, a fact-checking outlet based in Canada, estimated a basket of 11 essential food items cost 56 million rials per person in September, or more than 168 million rials for a family of three. The government's 10 million rial food voucher covered less than 18 percent of the per-person cost, down from about 30 percent in December 2025.

Some households have shifted protein to children. One woman said her family saves most of its meat and chicken for the kids, who are still growing, while she and her husband eat legumes and substitutes. She fears further price increases could push meat from the children's meals as well. A newly married woman in Tehran said wedding celebration savings went to a housing deposit instead. She works two shifts to repay a loan, and she told Radio Farda, "Our home has turned into the place we just sleep."

People earning above the average report the same squeeze. A middle-aged man in western Tehran said his salary and rental income bring household earnings to a billion rials, about $367. He said, "I can live for today, but I have no savings for tomorrow." Travel, dining out and saving have dropped from his life. A 28-year-old Tehran woman earning 400 million rials a month said she and friends who once visited cafes weekly now sometimes order one dish for every two people to split the bill.

Central bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati acknowledged on October 23 the "heavy burden" Iranians are carrying, and said efforts to isolate the economy had failed to achieve their main objective.